Branching Out
by crazyguy408
Summary: In order to grow and learn as an individual, one has to meet new people, and allow their influences to inspire you. No one else understood that more than Akko. But the same rules apply when those "people" turn out to be tiny, ancient tree creatures that she stumbled upon accidentally, right?
1. The Part When Akko Makes A Discovery

"Ten meters . . . Eleven meters . . . Twelve meters . . ."

The measuring tape kept going up and up and up, displaying the progress of Atsuko Kagari, who was currently straddling a broom with a reddening forehead and multiple beads of sweat forming on her brow.

In one hand, she held the broom to steady herself, in the other, she gripped the end of the tape measure, which was being held at the bottom by Amanda.

She continued verbalizing the brunette's progress.

"Fifteen . . . and a half . . . Ye're slowin' up up there, Akko! Just concentrate!"

The witch in question grumbled something very impolite under her breath.

"What is it you _think_ I'm trying to do?!"

"C'mon! I promise that it's not nearly as hard as you're making it out to be! Just relax! 'Sides, Constanze will be back any second now!"

As Akko's progress continually stagnated, Amanda looked to her left and gazed at her teammate Jasminka, who was currently doing her best to empty the contents of a potato chip bag, making audible "Ohm nom" noises while doing so.

To Amanda's right were Sucy and Lotte, gazing up at their friend with hope and pride (and a twinge of pity from Sucy) glistening in their eyes.

"That's a whole two meters more than yesterday Akko! Good job!" Lotte commended her friend.

Sucy didn't share her teammate's enthusiasm. Although she was admittedly impressed with the baby steps Akko has taken when it came to riding her broom, she could think of a solid twenty three things she would rather be doing on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, most of them having to do with what kinds of fungus are growing around town; especially after the rainy season.

Amanda looked left and right.

"What the heck is taking Constanze so long? At this point, Akko might not even _need_ those stabilizers."

"I wouldn't say that quite yet," Sucy warned, pointing up at Akko, diverting everyone's attention back to the struggling witch.

A slight gust of wind severed Akko's concentration, causing the broom to dip beneath her violently. Panicked, Akko dropped her end of the measuring tape and attempted to regain her balance. The spastic movements of her body accompanied by the undulation of the now uncontrollable broom made it appear as if she were attempting to tame a bucking bronco.

With a few dramatic wails of dread, her fingers failed to grip the broom, sending her in a downward spiral to the freshly cut Luna Nova lawn. With death imminent, she covered her eyes and awaited the bone shattering impact.

" _Amirae Voltolub_."

The moment Akko heard the spell, she suddenly felt a weightless sensation in the pit of her gut. Her rapid descent slowed exponentially. Daring to take a peak, Akko lowered her hands from her eyes, coming face to face with the upside down image of Diana, wand in hand held in front of her. At first, Akko merely let her arms fall limp below her in exasperation, then she let out a squeal of embarrassment as her hands shot up to prevent her skirt from falling down any further.

With a simple flick of her wrist, Diana let Akko fall face first into the grass with an unceremonious " _oof_ ". She crawled onto her hands and knees, dusting off the grass stains from her uniform moments before the broom fell flat on top of her, smarting the small of her back.

Sheathing her wand, Diana flicked her hair out of her field of vision and looked down at the girl, though not without a friendly glint in her eye. "I do believe you owe me an iced tea, Akko."

Rubbing the sore spot on her back, Akko tilted her head up confusedly at the prodigy. "Eh? What're you talking about?"

"Surely you hadn't forgotten the wager that you had offered me before this endeavor?"

Akko shot straight back to her feet in a nanosecond. "I remember the bet! But you're all sorts of crazy if you think I owe you anything!" She waved an accusatory finger in front of Diana's face. "I totally got over twenty meters this time!"

Diana tapped a thoughtful finger to her chin. "Amanda?"

Craning her neck to look behind Diana, Akko found Amanda holding the base of the measuring tape, the excess measurements coiling at her feet

"You know how much I hate agreeing with Cavendish," Amanda started, "but you only got to seventeen meters this time." With the click of a button, the tape retracted beck into its case with a _whiz_.

Akko's shoulders slumped. "But I was so certain this time . . ." she trailed off, lower lip quivering visibly.

She perked up once she felt a hand on her shoulder from behind. She turned and saw the comforting smile of Lotte. "There's nothing to be ashamed of Akko. Just because you didn't reach your goal today doesn't mean you haven't come closer to it."

"Lotte is correct," Diana agreed. "You mustn't allow your mind to dwell on the negative outcomes of every attempt you make, that will only lead to meaningless self-deprecation. But rather use your failures as a starting point to carry you to future success."

Akko raised a confused brow.

Diana sighed. "Just keep practicing and you'll soon attain what it is you desire."

Akko let out a dramatically long breath. "I feel like I could make more progress if Constanze would hurry it up with those cabalizers!"

"Stabilizers," Sucy corrected.

"Those too!"

"Akko, those are basically the equivalent of training wheels for a toddler. Are they something you really think you should be looking forward to?" Sucy's usual skepticism was something she never failed to voice whenever it came to Akko.

"Before one can begin flying by their own free will, you must first experience the sensation of solo flight in a safe way. And given the events of this last year, we must recognize that all witches learn and grow in different ways. I find no reason for shame in these stabilizers, and neither should Akko," Diana said as she crossed her arms.

Sucy merely snorted in reply.

"See, Diana gets it! Now where is sh- BWAH!"

Turning on her heel to start up a session of impatient pacing, Akko was suddenly sputtering and attempting to catch her footing as she almost walked straight into the German inventor.

Said inventor, not so much as flinching at Akko's outburst, had silently made her way behind her, two items resembling miniature bracelets resting in her gloved hands. She stared unblinkingly at Akko and held out the stabilizers, opting the taller girl to take them.

Akko graciously took them from her hands after she had recomposed herself, then eyed Constanze up and down suspiciously. "We should really get you a bell or something, you know?"

Constanze said nothing in reply, not that that surprised Akko in the slightest.

Stabilizers in hand, Akko made her way to her fallen broom. Leaning down, Akko started to install the stabilizers on the broom . . . Until she realized she had no idea how to do so.

"Hmm. Say Constanze, could you- GAH!"

Constanze once again silently appeared at her side. Taking the stabilizers from her hands without question, she bent down and slid the bracelets into place, one closer to the bristles, the other a few spaces in front, as to allow a seat for its rider. Leaning forward, the inventor flipped a nearly imperceptible switch in the first bracelet. A tiny blue light blinked several times before it finally glowed a consistent green.

Akko excitedly watched the inventor at work over her shoulder like a curious hummingbird until she stood upright from her kneeling position. Broom in hand, Constanze held it out to Akko.

With a squeal of delight, Akko excitedly bounced on her feet before engulfing the shorter girl in a massive hug. After a few twirls, she finally set Constanze down and took the broom from her hands.

Straddling it between her legs, she looked up and saw the looks on all of her friends' faces: The confident smirk of Amanda, the hopeful eyes of Lotte, the somewhat amused gaze of Sucy, the soft smile of Jasminka, the silent determination of Constanze, and the proud smile of Diana.

Surrounded by her closest friends, Akko felt virtually no possibility of failure.

Tightening her grip, adjusting her seat on her broom, and setting her eyes to the cloudless sky, Akko let out a determined breath. " _Tia Freyre_!"

With a whoosh, Akko ascended . . .

. . . Much more quickly than what she was used to.

"HYAA _AHH_!"

It was as if she had hopped off of a trampoline while operating a pogo stick on the moon. She gained about nine feet of altitude before she reached her peak. Slowly, she lowered herself back to the ground, but not without the unwelcome feeling of her stomach lurching upwards into her throat.

She managed to hover at a manageable height of four feet off the ground.

Letting up on her grip and releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding, Akko popped one eye open, then the other, looking at her friends' stunned faces. Recomposing herself, Akko squared her shoulders and raised her chin and chest confidently. "Hmm, it seems I'll be able to challenge you to another bet before long, Diana," she gloated.

Diana crossed her arms, unimpressed. "Despite the progress you can most undoubtedly gain, I believe that our previous terms would be nulled in the event of the use of performance enhancers."

Pouting, Akko tightened her grip on her broom.

"B-besides!" Lotte attempted to distract Akko's mind from attempting something that's well beyond her set of skills, "you don't have that much flying experience just yet. Why don't you just . . . try something out first?"

Akko pondered her suggestion for a moment.

"Alright!"

Hunching her shoulders and crouching so her chest just barely hovered over the broom, Akko set her gaze in front of her. A tree off in the distance came into view and an idea instantly formed in her head.

Grinning wickedly and white knuckling her hold on the broom, Akko was about to set off as fast as she could and make her way back to her awaiting group of friends . . .

Until she looked up.

Inside the school, up in one of the highest towers, she could see a figure standing in front of the window, her hands folded in front of her and her glasses glistening in the sunlight.

Akko rethought her actions once she felt Professor Ursula's eyes gazing down on her.

Taking a deep, calming breath, the brunette formed a new plan.

 _Ok, what would she say if she were down here right now . . . ? Probable something like, 'Akko, it's good to set goals for yourself, but they must also be . . .' what's the word she would use . . . ? Attainable! That's it! 'You can't push yourself in something that you have limited experience in. That's how failures are formed.'_

With those mental words of wisdom fresh in her mind, Akko looked forward, ignoring the tree (which she now realized was much farther away than she had previously seen) in the distance and looked for a new destination.

Scanning the field in front of her, Akko's eyes eventually came across a shrub that was a much more doable distance from her.

 _Gotcha_.

With control, Akko lurched the broom forward. Unlike multiple times in the past, the broom did exactly as she willed it to. Without any trouble, the broom continued to go forward, albeit at a slower speed than what Akko would have preferred, but it was still a refreshing experience to be in full command over her own broom.

Before she knew it, she had reached the shrub.

Leaning to the left, Akko banked around the shrub with relative ease and made her way back to her cheering group of friends.

She dismounted the broom and accepted the embraces of Lotte, Amanda and Jasminka.

Looking past the shoulders of her friends, Akko caught the image of Ursula, whose hands were clasped together in front of her with glee.

The brunette closed her eyes in delight and returned the embrace she was currently being held in.

"How fascinating," Diana observed after offering Akko a polite golf clap. "Those stabilizers appear to compensate for any lack of proper weight distribution. Am I correct in assuming so?"

Constanze gave Diana a thumbs up.

"Ooooohhhh, that was so awesome!" The excited witch gushed as soon as she was released from her three friends. "Didja see when I made it to the bush?! I feel like the old me would've freaked out if I had that coming at me!"

"You did so well, Akko!" Lotte praised. "Keep this up and you won't even need those stabilizers to fly!"

After accepting more words of praise from her friends, an idea sprung into her head.

"Hey Amanda, wanna race?!"

Everyone's jaws simultaneously came unhinged and fell open.

"Whoa there, Akko. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. What you just did was passable, but to go up against _me_?" The tomboy put a hand against her chest. "I don't think you're ready for that just yet."

"Oh it doesn't have to be an intense, fully physical thingy like whatever it is you're used to. I was just thinking like three laps around the school or something."

Amanda shifted her gaze to the school, considering the idea.

"Huh, well-"

She was cut off by Akko. "Lately, Professor Ursula has been talking about setting goals for myself when it comes to magic. She always says that as long as I can pass one of my goals, then I'm ready for the next one! So that's what I think the next step for me is!"

The group remained silent, considering the idea.

"I agree with Akko."

All eyes turned to Diana.

"One cannot advance if they aren't able to push through their barriers. I will moderate the race, should you choose to accept it, Amanda." Diana added that last part as if she were the one challenging her instead of Akko.

Amanda turned back to Akko, who had her hand stretched out in front of her, waiting eagerly for Amanda to take it. Her eyes narrowed in determination and a smirk formed on her mouth.

"Duh."

 _Later_ ,

It was as if they had wandered in on an actual racetrack. There were two opponents, side by side, on their brooms, awaiting for the word to go. And there was Diana, standing several feet in front of them with a white handkerchief hoisted in the air. Lotte stood next to Sucy, a twinge of worry in her heart for her friend.

She shook away the negative thoughts when she reminded herself that it was all so that Akko could further improve her skills as a witch.

Little plumes of dust billowed underneath their brooms from anticipation, like anxious cars revving their engines.

Their eyes were locked forward in determination, not even allowing a single blowing leaf to disrupt their concentration.

Finally, Diana dropped the handkerchief.

As foreseen, Amanda was the first to speed off, though Akko was not far in tow.

Diana turned around and watched as the witches disappeared behind the first turn, a smile forming at the sight.

She turned on her heels and made her way over to the makeshift peanut gallery, joining her friends. Looking to the side, Diana noticed that Jasminka had switched out her bag of chips for a small carton of popcorn (where she had attained it, she wasn't sure). Beside the pink haired girl was Constanze, who held a high visibility telescope and at the ready.

Turning, she also observed Lotte's trembling fingers entwined in front of her, which contradicted the bored expression that Sucy currently wore.

"She will be just fine, you know," Diana comforted. "She is going to become an exceptional witch once she has mastered the basics."

Lotte gave a small, shy smile in return. "I know she will. I just . . . don't want anything bad to happen right now. She's still so new to flying."

"I'm willing to bet a few weeks' worth of chores that Akko's clumsiness is going to bite her in the butt within the next few minutes," Sucy grinned.

Diana and Lotte shot her disapproving glances, but neither chose to address her.

"Unfortunately, big mistakes like that are one of the best ways any student can learn. They can often offer more guidance than any seasoned instructor ever could." After she saw that this offered little to appease the shy girl's muddled thoughts, she switched her approach. "Akko has done nothing but improve and grow within these past few weeks since the new year started. She will be just fine."

 _Meanwhile_ ,

There were very few things that Amanda loved doing more than flying. One of them included bugging that Cavendish girl with her _(ahem), 'absurd table manners and complete disregard of personal space.'_

She enjoys flying so much that she nearly forgot that this was not to be treated as an official race, but merely as a training exercise for her friend.

Looking back, she could see Akko hunched over and gripping her broom with almost every ounce of strength that she had. Amanda chuckled to herself, making a mental note to inform her she'll have better mobility if she were loose.

Letting up, Amanda trailed back until she was adjacent with the brunette. She looked over her shoulder and yelled over the wind. "Nice job! But watch yourself on those turns! You'll lose more ground if you go too wide!"

She could see Akko nod, soaking in the advice.

As Akko flew, she wondered if Professor Ursula was still watching and what she'd be thinking if she saw her flying around the school with minimal experience. Hopefully she wouldn't be scolded too badly if she explained her reasoning to her idol.

To her right hand side, she saw the forms of their audience cheering and waving excitedly, indicating that the first lap had been completed, and she hadn't gained much ground on her opponent.

She intended on changing that this lap.

Focusing even harder, Akko sped up, coming up side to side with the red head, slightly startling the girl.

"Nice work! But try not to push too hard!"

They rounded the next corner and continued on the straightaway, the thick of the forest directly in front of them as they approached the upcoming turn.

Akko shrugged off her concern.

"Man, I didn't think you were the worrying type, Amanda!" She teased. "Maybe I could give you a run for your money after all!"

 _Flip_.

In the midst of her taunt, the brunette unknowingly switched her grip, which incidentally led her to flipping the small switch on her front stabilizer.

The two girls eyed it cautiously before exchanging a glance between themselves.

Akko's fear was confirmed when the steady green light turned back into the blinking blue.

"Uh oh."

The broom, having seemingly grown a mind of its own, did a complete nose dive into the dirt. The tip of the broom digging into the soil and acting as a makeshift catapult to Akko, flinging her head over heels deep into the forest entrance.

Amanda brought her broom to a skidding stop right next to the brunette's fallen broom.

"Akko!"

The young witch wasn't even able to hear the startled shriek of her friend as the wind flew by her ears at a deafening volume. The broom had flung her off so quick that her mind hasn't even yet comprehended that its body had been ejected from it, her arms and legs limp and at the mercy of gravity and inertia.

In what seemed to be less than a second, Luna Nova disappeared behind the thick foliage of the forest.

Eyes squeezed shut out of fear, the young girl awaited the hard impact, preparing for any broken bones or possible concussion she may endure.

She waited for even longer . . . and longer . . .

 _Huh, I must be really up higher than I thought! Man, this is gonna suck . . ._

It wasn't until after she had finished the thought that she realized that the roar of the wind in her ears had subsided, and that her hair was hanging over her face.

Her body was still.

"Eh?"

Peeping one eye open, the bravely prying the other one open as well, Akko found herself suspended in midair, a few yards off of the ground.

The initial feeling of panic overtaking her yet again, she thrashed and flailed her arms spastically, but made no progress in getting herself lowered to the ground.

Gazing at herself after she had calmed down, she finally realized that her body was encompassed by a strange sort of green aura, blinking like a slow heartbeat.

Blinking to get herself back into reality, the young witch crossed her arms somewhat triumphantly.

"Heheh. Guess my magical instincts really _do_ work."

Then she felt herself being lowered gently to the ground.

"Ok, but I'm pretty sure I'm not doing this . . ."

After both feet touched the soil and she had a firm standing stance, the green aura faded. Akko looked her body up and down, wondering what could've been responsible for saving her from a very painful reentry.

Her curiosity was put to rest when her eyes skimmed downward.

Eyes ready to burst from their sockets and jaw understandably slack, Akko looked down at the small woodland creature.

Literally, a _wood_ land creature.

That was the only way Akko could describe the thing standing just mere yards away from her. It looked as if it had the body of a tree with twigs acting as its arms and legs, and leaves serving as its fingers and toes. A small bush made up its cranium, giving it the appearance of a well-kept afro. But the most startling feature was its face.

Its eyes and mouth were nothing but mere slits carved into the bark. The eyes were thinned to slits in concentration and its tiny arms were stretched out in front of it, and it appeared to be breathing heavily, as if it had just got done performing a strenuous exercise.

Realization dawned on Akko.

Lifting a shaky finger, Akko pointed at the small creature.

"Did . . . you just . . ."

" _Akko_!"

The creature twitched in surprise, its tiny mouth forming into an o and looking past the brunette witch at the sound of where the voice came from.

Amanda's voice was heard calling her name in the distance, and several pairs of footsteps could be heard disturbing the peaceful forest floor.

She turned her head. "Amanda! Everyone! I'm over here! Look at- . . . huh?"

After having given her location away to her friends, she looked back to discover the creature had up and vanished, leaving a few falling leaves in its wake.

The rustling of bushes and the snapping of twigs could be heard ahead of her though.

"Wait! Come back!"

Arms outstretched in front of her, Akko gave chase to the creature, running and skipping over various roots and bushes as she ran, keeping her eyes peeled for anything that seemed remotely out of place.

Keeping her gaze glued to the ground, she failed to anticipate the perfectly placed branch sticking out in front of her, which just so happened to be positioned perfectly in front of her face.

 _THWAK_!

The blunt force swept her clean off of her feet, sending her sprawling onto her backside within the blink of an eye.

Groaning, Akko rubbed her sore forehead. Pulling her hand away, she saw a small trickle of crimson traced on her finger.

She propped herself up on her elbows, ignoring the vertigo and scanning left to right, but she let out a defeated sigh when she had to admit to herself that she had lost sight of the creature.

"Akko! Guys! I found her!"

"Eh?"

Craning her head to the side, she caught sight of a worried Amanda and Diana, who hurriedly made their way to both sides of Akko.

"She may be concussed," Diana observed. "Amanda, please lend me assistance."

Amanda was not about to argue.

Leaning down, the two of them draped Akko's arms around their shoulders, hefting the delirious girl to her feet.

Lotte, Sucy, Constanze and Jasminka were not far behind them, all of them with equal looks of concern on their faces.

A still dazed Akko paid them no mind for the time being, and instead did her best to look over her shoulder, trying to see if she could spot the small walking tree.

"Wh-where'd you go? Come back!"

"Great, now she's hallucinating," Amanda muttered in frustration. "We've gotta get her to the nurse, pronto."

 _Later_ ,

The click of Professor Ursula's` heels against the tiles of the Luna Nova was the only thing audible on the school grounds as students and faculty slowly began retiring to their beds for the evening, leaving the red haired instructor alone with her thoughts as she patrolled the barren hallways of the school.

Most of the teachers detested patrol duty, as they found it affected their performances as instructors the following day.

Ursula was often the one to volunteer.

She always appreciated spending time alone with her thoughts as she patrolled her usual route (she always passed by the Sorcerer's Stone at specific times as to catch the rising moon), and tonight, her thoughts were especially occupied by her young pupil.

She had observed it all: Akko measuring her distance from the ground, making a successful lap around a shrub, and the race she had with Amanda which resulted in her trip to the infirmary with a miraculously minor concussion.

After watching the young girl fling herself into the woods, Ursula wasted no time in making her way to the nurse's office, rendezvousing with Akko and her usual group of friends at the entrance. Once Akko was bandaged up and secure in the bed, she ran herself breathless reassuring everyone (especially a very remorseful Constanze) that she was virtually unharmed. Though they all remained unconvinced, they decided that the best thing to do was to let the clumsy girl get her rest.

They all left the nurse's office en masse, waving and wishing Akko a speedy recovery.

As the group divided into separate directions, heading to their own quarters, Ursula was caught off guard by a passing comment from Amanda.

"Man, I'm not sure she's as ok as she says she is. She's a strong kid and all, but come on, a solid blow to the head will make anyone think that they saw tiny walking tree things, right?"

Ursula had stopped dead in her tracks, her breath hitching and her eyes bulging.

She nearly made a mad dash all the way across the school grounds to view the schools archived magical items, but decided against it in fear of looking too suspicious. Rather, she decided the best course of action was to wait for her patrol tonight, when no one else was awake.

Finally, Ursula made it to the entrance to the archives, being met with the large pillar containing the seemingly endless rows of magical items, resting dormant inside the small cavities within the concrete.

With a flick of her wrist, Ursula cast a spell that illuminated the darkness, allowing her a better visual of what lay ahead.

While the ability to fly would be useful in this scenario, she had no reason to fret.

Walking to the side of the room, she found the thing she was looking for . . . an eight foot high ladder.

Leaning it against the wall, she ascended to the third to the final step, and with another flick of her wrist, she felt the magic flow through the ladder, growing more and more feet by the second, rising her up higher like an invisible elevator.

The air rushed through her hair, but she paid it no mind.

She needed to know for sure.

Once the cavity she was looking for came into view, she slowed her ascent to a gradual stop, coming face to face with the opening.

She peeked inside . . . and let out a sigh of relief.

The three wooden coils were still there, resting.

"Oh thank goodness."

Laughing at herself for worrying over what turned out to be nothing, she commanded the ladder to lower her down.

"I guess Akko was hallucinating after all . . ."

 _Meanwhile_ ,

Sparks were flying in the inventor's sealed face as she welded another piece together. Pausing, she pushed up her mask and brought her face closer to the pint sized robot, inspecting her handy work.

Nodding in approval, she swiveled in her chair to wheel across her secret lab and reach for her screwdriver, not intending to bump into the freshly concussed Akko.

"BWAH!"

Falling flat on her back, Akko offered the small girl a sheepish smile before standing back up, rubbing the back of her head.

"Don't worry, it's not as bad as it was earlier."

Constanze let out a breath, not buying it for a second.

Akko gazed around the room, a little too innocently for Constanze's liking, which was exemplified by the finger the brunette placed on her lower lip, her eyes still roaming the workshop.

"So, I was wondering, you think you could let me use those ca- stabilizers again? I promise to be _veeeeeery_ careful this time."

After the incident in the forest, Constanze had confiscated the stabilizers and intended on modifying them so they could be powered on and off remotely rather than having the switch on them themselves, as to avoid anything like this in the future.

In short, Constanze was not yet able to relinquish the stabilizers to the girl.

She shook her head no.

Akko pouted in reply. "Ah c'mooooon! I'll help you out in here like that last time! Remember how well that all turned out?"

Constanze shuddered at the memory.

"Do you need the tools? I remember where they are! They're over here, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, she turned on her heel and began digging her way through the lab, knocking over various pieces of equipment and tools in the process.

Tightening her hands into fists, Constanze stood from her chair and marched over to where Akko was currently digging, then she felt the color drain from her face when she saw what Akko was right next to.

Immediately, Constanze threw her hands in front of her, waving them madly to gain the other girl's attention. Akko turned her head when she saw her friend waving her arms through her peripheral vision. She offered the small girl a smile. "Oh, no need to worry. I'm positive I can find them myself. I remember this place like the back of my own wand!"

To emphasize her point, Akko unsheathed her wand and thrust it out to the side . . . which was the very thing Constanze was hoping _not_ to happen.

Without realizing it, Akko's outstretched arm activated a lever that had not entered her field of view. It fell the opposite way and stopped moving with a _kechunk_.

It was then Akko realized her mistake.

Moments after the lever was activated, a large door slowly opened up, allowing the moonlight to pour in, offering a chilly breeze along with it. After the doors were fully opened, the rotating floor behind Akko, which just so happened to be the resting spot of another one of Constanze's experiments, swiveled, spinning the large flying pirate ship so its bow was facing the open night sky.

Constanze's heart sank, able to do nothing but watch as her newest version of the ship be raised up onto a launching ramp, and catapult into the blackness.

Akko had her back turned the entire time, so she couldn't see what had just happened. But based off of the horrified look on Constanze's face, she quickly put two and two together.

Casually putting her wand back and taking a quick peek over her shoulder, she then offered Constanze a small smile, hoping she would be able to laugh this all off come morning.

But she knew that wouldn't be the case.

"In my defense, having a single lever for launching an entire ship is kinda dumb in the first place."

 _Later_ ,

As predicted, Constanze didn't take too kindly to that explanation.

If the German inventor wasn't so hell-bent on being the strong silent type, Akko was certain she'd still be getting an earful from her.

And after having been physically tossed out of the laboratory by her small army of Stan Bots, Akko safely assumed that she would not be receiving any help from her in the near future.

"Yeah, I'm gonna really have to make it up to her about this one . . ."

Clearing her throat and recomposing her demeanor, she ignored the chilly air that surrounded her and illuminated the darkness with her wand, revealing the entrance to the forest where she had fallen in just hours ago.

"Alright," she steeled herself. "Where are you hiding, little guy?"


	2. The Part When Akko Gets Tutored

Akko grimaced as the large double doors that served as the entrance to the academy creaked in protest as she attempted to open them as silently as possible. The impatient girl settled on a quiet (yet really annoying) whine of the hinges in lieu of an ear piercing bang, the latter of which would most assuredly get her caught by anyone in the school.

Gently closing the door behind her, Akko began her quiet journey back to her room, tip toeing at a steady pace, making extra sure her footsteps don't echo throughout the vacant corridors.

Slowly but surely, Akko made it to her level, but still had a ways to go until she reached her room.

While her feet concentrated on being as silent as possible, her mind was elsewhere. She remembered Diana's words about not letting failures fill her mind with self-deprecating comments, but she couldn't help but focus on what she could've done differently on her fruitless search for the walking tree thingy.

Braving the chilly night air, she had intended on finding that creature, not to prove the others wrong in that she was hallucinating, but rather to thank it properly.

Had it not been there at that exact moment in time, there was no telling how many injuries she could've gotten. And as her friends carried her back to the school grounds, they ignored her pleas to return and merely passed them off as her typical ramblings amplified by possible brain injury.

It didn't take long for her to realize she'd have to go in by herself and thank that thing at a later time.

But after she entered the forest, she came across no sign of life, save for the usual activity of the nocturnal creatures. One step after the other leading her nowhere near any remnant or clue as to the walking tree's whereabouts.

The crunching of sticks and twigs underneath her feet only reminded her of how deafeningly quiet this place was at night, and how she was getting nowhere with this search.

Grumbling to herself, a thought had come to her.

Looking left and right, she purposefully lifted her foot behind her and kicked her footing out from under her, feigning an injury.

She grasped her knee and hugged it to her chest.

"Oh ow! Owwie owie ow! My knee has given out! I'm not sure if I can make it much longer on my own! If only there were some kind creatures out there willing to give a helpless girl assistance . . !"

She was met with nothing but the sounds of crickets chirping and the leaves rustling in the breeze.

 _Hmphing_ in frustration, she let her knee go, laying like a beached starfish in the soil.

A new idea came into her head.

Grinning slyly, she took out her wand, holding it up above her head.

"Oh ho ho! Why yes! This tree will do just fine in my log cabin! Here I go! About to chop it down with my freshly sharpened axe!"

Winding the wand behind her in both hands like a baseball bat, she swung and struck the side of the tree, with carefully calculated force as to not bust the wand in half, but also noticeably wobble the tree.

 _Thunk_.

 _Thunk_.

 _Thunk_.

"I'm getting closer! This tree will be mine soon unless something tries to come out and stop me!"

Her prediction came true, but not in the form of what she had wanted.

After one last swing of the wand, a bird's nest fell from atop a branch, landing softly on her head.

She froze mid-swing.

"Eh?"

Sheathing her wand, she took the nest off of her head and brought it closer to her face, the darkness preventing her from knowing what it was. After bringing it close enough to her eyes, they widened in realization.

"Oh boy."

Thankfully, the three eggs inside appeared to be unharmed, but that still didn't appease the mother Blue Jay, cawing in protest at the startled girl.

"GAH!"

The angry mother swooped down, aiming for Akko's head, but she ducked just in time.

As gently as she could, she set the nest down and ran as fast as her feet could bring her, Mama Bird still in hot pursuit, pecking at the bandages on her skull.

"Ow! Ow! Sorrysorrysorrysorry! Ididn'tknowanyonewaslivingtherebutIreallyneedtogetgoingnowsobye!"

Arms flailing in vain efforts to swat the bird away, Akko finally managed to lose her. The bird lost interest and flew back to its home.

But Akko didn't stop running until she had burst out of the spot she had come from, the silhouette of Luna Nova right in front of her.

Arms on her knees as she panted heavily, she finally decided to cut her losses and return to her living quarters.

Now she was faced with another dilemma: attempting to get back to her room without disturbing any other students or teachers.

Unlike her last mission, she was doing fairly well . . . until she rounded the last corner and was met face to face with her mentor, who had her wand poised up and illuminated as she walked the halls.

Akko covered her mouth with both hands in order to prevent any squawk of alarm leaving her.

"A-Akko?!" Professor Ursula, equally startled, breathed out as silently as she could, her free hand resting over her now rapidly beating heart.

They both let out breaths of relief simultaneously.

"Sorry Professor. I didn't mean to scare you."

Ursula was about to deny that she had been frightened, but then realized another issue was at hand.

"Never mind that. But could you please explain to me why you are wandering the halls after curfew?" There was no accusation or any threatening tone to her voice, but Akko knew she needed a plausible excuse, and she got the feeling that playing the I-Wanna-Be-Just-Like-You-When-I-Grow-Up-So-I-Thought-I'd-Silently-Join-You-On-Your-Patrol-Tonight card would get her nowhere fast.

She gulped, dreading the conversation she was picturing in her head.

 _Aw man, I don't wanna lie to her of all people . . ._

 _Wait a minute, I don't have to . . ._

Sheepishly placing her hands behind her back, she nervously rubbed the toes of her shoes against the floor, hanging her head low but still maintaining eye contact.

"I had accidentally lost something that belonged to Constanze. So I tried to look for it, but I lost track of time."

 _That's . . . technically true . . ._

 _Well, when she says 'lost', she really means launched it out into the night with little to no effort at all, and the 'something' referring to a fairly large flying contraption that takes the appearance of a pirate ship . . . but hey, people bend the truth like this all the time . . ._

 _Right?_

To her confusion, Ursula lifted the corner of her mouth into a half smile and half smirk.

"Oh, I see. You misplaced something that belonged to Miss Constanze."

The brunette nodded vigorously.

"So tell me," she reached forward and plucked out a twig out of her hair that Akko hadn't even realized she was carrying, "since when did Constanze move her study into the wilderness?"

Akko slumped her shoulders, offered Ursula a shy smile and rubbed the top of her head nervously (inadvertently touching the tender spots of where Mama Bird had attacked her, but she felt she could keep that to herself).

"As long as your business is finished outside . . . Then I don't see any need to report this incident."

Eyes popping wide and head snapping up, Akko beamed at her childhood hero.

Then Ursula's gaze turned serious, brows raised. "B-but I can't allow you to keep doing this. I won't be able to cover for you forever."

Despite the now growing throbbing of her head, Akko nodded excitedly. "I understand! Thank you sooooo _ooooo_ much!" Without thinking twice, Akko threw her arms around her teacher's waist, taking the teacher by surprise before she sank into it as well, wrapping her cloaked arms around her favorite student.

"'Sides, I bet you did all sorts of crazy things at school! Probably something more dangerous and exciting than sneaking into the woods in the middle of the night, eh?"

Professor Ursula pointed her illuminated wand away as to not let Akko see an embarrassed blush creep up on her cheeks.

She cleared her throat. "We-well then, I think that it would be rather inappropriate for a student and teacher to be caught in the middle of the night. S-so, why don't you go get as much rest as you can before morning?"

As close as Akko and Ursula grew ever since the missile crisis last year, she had struggled to keep her relationship with the young witch as professional as possible, not wishing for anyone to think that she was the kind of instructor who only gives most of her attention to her favorite students, and has such attempted to re-establish said relationship with the young witch.

Although she wished to stay with her teacher for a little longer, Akko started to notice the telltale signs of drowsiness creeping in. "But I'm still not that tired," the girl whined, but her drooping eyelids betrayed her.

Ursula could only laugh in amusement. "Come now. I'm sure you'd want to get some sleep tonight. If you hurry, you can still get at least seven hours. Besides," Ursula winked, "you've been looking forward to tomorrow's lesson plan all year."

Her seemingly heavy eyelids all but forgotten, Akko's signature bright smile returned.

"You don't mean . . !"

 _The next day_ ,

"Simon's Comet, as many of you know, is a well-known symbol of magic amongst the witches of Luna Nova," Professor Finneran lectured, arms crossed in front of her and standing before the chalkboard, which had a rough illustration of said comet. "Discovered by Bernadette Simon over seven hundred years ago, this comet . . ."

She continued to drone on, boring the class half to death. Whoever didn't have their heads plopped down inside of their open notebooks were supporting their heads by placing their chins in their hands.

Only two people were listening attentively to the lesson.

The first being Diana, with picture perfect posture as always. With her eyes glued to the front of the class, she wrote inside her notebook while looking down at her paper only sparingly.

The other, surprisingly, was Akko.

In stark contrast to Diana's composed figure, Akko was all but leaning forward as far as she could in her seat and over the desk, as if that would somehow make the information travel faster into her ears. She scribbled at lightning speed on the paper, literally copying down every word that the strict teacher was saying.

Despite her heavy eyelids, she felt as if she was in no danger of falling asleep in class, as she was bound and determined to learn everything she didn't already know about this comet.

Lotte and Sucy exchanged confused glances, wondering where her sudden burst of motivation had suddenly sprung up from.

"Bernadette had used the magic emanating from the comet to drive off the opposing forces who threatened to invade her homeland. However, due to its constantly shifting trajectory, it has flown too far from the planet for witches to utilize its power. But it is still visible to the naked eye."

To Akko's dismay, the bell rang.

"And one last thing before you all leave!" Finneran called out over the anxious group of students. "This comet will be visible for a brief period this upcoming Friday. So we will all be observing it that night."

She was met with a chorus of groans and moans.

Amanda huffed as she stuffed her notebook inside her book bag. "Psh. Right, cuz that's exactly how we all want to spend our Friday night. Looking at some rock in the sky. Big whoop."

"I know! Isn't it exciting?!"

Amanda and Jasminka turned to the source of the optimism.

"Don't tell me you're actually looking forward to watching it? We'll only be able to see it for like fifteen seconds."

"And it shows up once every three years. It's not like it's a very special occasion anymore," Sucy muttered.

"To you guys it might not be, but this'll be my first time seeing it ever!" Akko twirled and threw her hands in the air in excitement.

Jasminka tilted her head in confusion. "You've never seen the comet before?"

Akko shook her head, her smile never vanishing. "Not ever!" Reaching into her book bag, she pulled out a trading card with little to no creases or tears. The art depicted the comet in question, with its long red tail flowing behind it as it passed by several other stars and planets. "This was one of the very first cards I added to my collection. Ever since I learned about it, I promised myself that I'd only see it after I became a witch like Shiny Chariot!"

Everyone around her blinked in astonishment.

"Do you just carry that thing around with you everywhere you go hoping that someone will bring it up?" Sucy asked disbelievingly.

Akko waved her off. "Pfft, no. That'd be just stupid. I only brought it in today after I learned we'd be hearing about it. But now we actually get to see it in person!"

Jasminka lowered her head in what appeared to be jealousy. "Man, I wish I was as excited as you about this, Akko."

"Yeah, no kiddin'," Amanda concurred. "After the first time I saw it, it's kinda lost its appeal."

After a _harrumph_ escaped Akko's lips, she saw Lotte nervously rub the back of her head. "I'm afraid not all that excited for the comet either. It just doesn't have the same feel as it did when I was a kid."

"I never really liked it that much to begin with. It's just a hunk of rock flying through outer space," Sucy shrugged.

Akko looked at all of her friends with a slack jaw, not wishing to believe what she was hearing. She turned to who she believed would be her last hope.

"Diana! Someone like you has to be looking forward to seeing the comet, right . . ?"

Diana sighed as she placed the last of her belongings inside her book bag, eyes closed for a few seconds before they opened up and gazed at Akko. "Despite its rich magical history, I'm afraid I harbor no excitement for this event either."

If they looked closely, they would've been able to see Akko's heart implode in on itself.

Lotte, seeing water beginning to well behind the brunette's eyes, nervously placed her hand on Akko's shoulder in an attempt to appease her now disheartened friend.

"B-but just because we aren't looking forward to it as much doesn't mean you can't enjoy your first time, Akko! Just like what Jasminka said, I think we're all a little jealous . . . right guys?"

"Jealous?" Akko parroted.

"If we're to understand," Diana started, now standing next to the small group of friends, "you have purposefully deprived yourself of this experience all these years so that you may fully appreciate the meaning behind the comet when you've grown, correct?"

Akko's smile was back in full force.

"Yep! I haven't even searched it on any search engine!"

Diana nodded in understanding, a small smile evident. "Then I must admit I am rather envious that the comet's meaning has not been lost to everyone."

Amanda followed Diana's lead with a shrug. "It'd be pretty cool to see the thing with fresh eyes again."

Jasminka nodded vigorously in agreement. "I still haven't forgotten my first time seeing it. That'll only make this one all the more special for you!"

Sucy sighed. "Only Akko could make a big deal over something this stupid," she said in a clearly annoyed tone, but not without the smallest hint of a smile on her features.

Lotte laughed in delight. "It looks like we all want to live vicariously through you for a while."

"Vi . . . what?" But before anyone could clear away her confusion, she caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall. Her eyes growing wide in alarm, she carefully but quickly set her collector's card back into its spot along with the rest of her books. "Shoot! I'm going to be late for my private lesson! I promised Professor Ursula I'd keep better track of time!" With that, the anxious witch made her way past her friends and to the exit. "ThankssomuchIloveyouguys!"

With that, the room was met with a stunned silence.

Then a rowdy chorus of laughter followed.

After the laughing fit subsided, Diana shook her bangs from her eyes. "If only there was a way to experience magic in the way Akko does."

"If everyone did, no one would know how to use it and it would eventually die out," Sucy guessed.

Rather than chiding her teammate, Lotte looked left, then right.

"Where did Constanze go?"

Amanda stood up. "She faked a doctor's note to get out of class. Something about remaking one of her inventions, er something er other. Akko had something to do with it I'm sure."

"Akko did bring up an incident. But she also said she had an apology in mind. I hope it all worked out."

 _Meanwhile_ ,

Constanze had to pause what she was doing as she gazed down at the folded up piece of paper that had somehow made its way into her stack of blueprints.

Overcome with curiosity, the young inventor took it in her gloved hands and unfolded it.

She was honestly not expecting a childishly drawn picture of a pirate ship with two figures that she was pretty sure were supposed to represent herself and Akko were standing on top of it holding hands. And in bright sparkly blue ink, she had written _"I hope we can still salvage this friendSHIP!"_

Constanze's eye twitched.

 _Later_ ,

Despite Ursula's wishes for Akko to be more responsible with her time, she showed no sign of frustration as she burst through the door five minutes late. She merely assumed she had spent a few extra moments to talk with her classmates. She couldn't find it in her heart to scold her pupil over that. Besides, it wasn't like she had been waiting long.

Assuring the girl that the apologies she was spouting out a mile a minute were unnecessary, she finally managed to calm the brunette down and prepared for her lesson.

Reaching underneath her desk, Ursula produced two potted plants, both of which were dried, withered, and overall sad to look at. She set them down atop of the desk and invited Akko to step closer.

Given the young girl's enthusiasm for transformation magic, Ursula decided the best course of action would be to explain to her the different kinds of transformation magic and how to utilize all of them.

"In order to fully utilize your spell, you must first understand the connection to whom or whatever it is you are casting upon. In other words, the intention of your spell must always be kept in mind. Are you attempting to repair a broken item, or perhaps dispel an unwanted pest? Those are the kinds of questions you must always keep in mind. Do you understand, Akko?"

The young witch nodded in affirmation, both hands firmly gripping her wand and eyes never once wavering from her favorite instructor.

"However, in the midst of casting your spell, proper pronunciation and delivery must also be kept in consideration. If you slur your words or misinterpret its meaning, then the magic will dissipate, resulting with nothing, or, in rarer occasions, can sometimes lead to backfiring. A level head and pure heart are the two main ingredients when casting magic." Ursula smiled. "And I know you have no problems with either of those."

Face heating up, Akko bashfully rubbed the back of her still sore head.

"Now, observe."

Unsheathing her wand, Ursula poised herself and concentrated solely on one of the two plants she set before the two of them, the tip of her wand glowing in preparation for her spell.

" _Arbourore Vitaestis."_

Almost immediately, the green aura from the wand traveled forward and engulfed the plant, the soil now pulsating with the green light. Right before Akko's eyes, the once lifeless twig began to sprout small petals, its stem returning to a healthy thickness with the new rush of nutrients flowing through its body. In a matter of moments, the once seemingly lifeless plant had returned to its pinnacle health.

Akko gazed in wonderment, eyes sparkling in awe.

Smiling, Ursula placed both hands behind her back. "Now," she started, regaining Akko's attention, "what do you believe the intention of my spell was?"

Akko straightened back up, hands at her sides and her face scrunched in thought. "To . . . ah, bring the plant back to life?"

"Very good," Ursula nodded. "And what did you notice about the particular spell I chose to cast?"

"Um . . ." Akko tapped her foot, tapping her chin and fidgeted in place, as if moving every part of her body would somehow help her brain blurt out an answer.

Once Ursula was sure she wasn't going to get an answer, she filled in the blanks. "Look at it this way. Do you remember the first word I used?"

Akko nodded. "Arbourore!"

"Correct. Arbourore means plant, or botany, or any other connection to the group, such as trees or flowers, etcetera. Then the second word was Vitaestis, meaning life."

"Ooooooooooohh," Akko let out a breath of understanding. "So you literally put life inside of the plant?"

"In a matter of speaking, yes. But when all is said and done, what's important is the syntax. The order of the words. First, you establish the noun of your spell, then the verb or command."

"So," Akko attempted to understand, "first I have to review my intentions, otherwise the spell won't work. Then I have to think about the way I order my words, or the spell won't work. And then I have to have perfect pronunciation and execution of the spell . . . or it won't work. Right?"

Ursula smiled sheepishly. "I understand that it's a bit of a mouthful, but-"

"Aww man, that's an awful lot to think about for one spell," Akko's arms drooped to her sides, her once fixed gaze now facing the floor.

"Akko."

She lifted her chin and was met with the kind yet stern look Ursula was currently giving her. "Making magic is something that you and I both adore doing. I became an entertainer to help spread magic and inspire others to pursue it; and then I became an instructor, to help mold those who did decide to learn our ways. Both of which took previously unimaginable amounts of concentration. So you must understand that there are lots of little things that are attributed when it comes to casting spells."

An idea formed in the instructor's mind.

"Come here," she gestured to her side. Akko complied and approached her mentor. "Good, now walk back."

Tilting her head in confusion, Akko did as she was told and returned to her previous spot.

"Now, what was it that you just did?"

"Eh?" Akko tilted her head. "Nothing really. I just kind of walked."

"Yes, Akko!"

The sudden burst of excitement startled Akko out of her confusion. "When we're born, we have no concept of anything, let alone walking. But slowly and surely, we learn how. Even though we stumble and fall as we learn, we finally teach ourselves how to walk regardless. Then, before we know it, we reach the point when we don't even think about what it is we're doing. We simply walk forward and back. _That's_ the essence of magic, Akko. We do it until it is so engraved into our minds, we can't ever possibly forget it."

Akko allowed her teacher's words to absorb, soaking in every meaning and lesson behind it. After stewing it all over in her head, Akko grinned and gave a confident nod. "I think I get it, now!"

Ursula returned the nod, clearing away from the desk to give Akko room to work.

The brunette let out a deep, calming breath while posing herself just like how Ursula was just standing moments ago.

She listed off everything that they had just reviewed in her mind:

 _Intention, check._

 _Cleared mind . . . . . . . . check._

 _Pronunciation, we're about to find out._

Setting her sights on the lifeless plant, she flicked her wrist.

" _Arbourore Vitaestis!"_

Her wand glowed the same green aura for a few brief moments . . . then in a somewhat anticlimactic puff of smoke, a tiny, dark gray cloud formed right above the wilting plant.

Both student and teacher tilted their heads in confusion.

"Eh?"

After a few more moments of silence, they both let out a squeal of alarm as the tiny cloud began to pour rain over the helpless plant, as if a faucet had been turned on full blast.

The water cascaded over the plant, spread over the desk and puddled on the floor faster than either of them could process.

Panicked, Akko waved her hands in the air, accompanied by a series of choked screeches of helplessness and guilt. In a fit of desperation, Akko waved her wand through the cloud vigorously in an attempt to dissipate the unintentional cloud formation.

To her shock and relief, it worked. All that was left were tiny wisps of white and gray that slowly faded away. All that was left was a now puddle on the floor, a dripping desk, and a drenched potted plant. Akko and Ursula made no noises at all, too overcome with shock to even attempt to speak at the moment. The only noise in the room were the steady drips of water falling off the desk, creating ripples upon impact in the puddle.

The only thing Akko could even remotely think to do at the moment was offer Ursula a shaky smile, accompanied by a small series of awkward chuckles.

Before Ursula could say or do anything in reply, however, they both caught movement in the corner of their eye, coming from the plant.

The soaked stem quivered and shook, vibrating the pot it rested in.

Finally, the plant stopped moving.

Akko and Ursula braved a few timid steps forward, careful not to slip in the water, and brought their faces closer to it . . . just in time to see a leaf poke out the top of the stem.

Gasping in astonishment, any embarrassment Akko had previously felt immediately vanished, and was replaced with a rejuvenated sense of excitement and disbelief.

Like a child playing in the rain, Akko Excitedly jumped up and down, spraying splashes of water all over her and Ursula's robes; but Ursula didn't care in the slightest.

It may have been a small accomplishment, but to Akko, had been a full-fledged victory, and Ursula wouldn't dare take that away from her.

Akko virtually threw her face within three inches away from Ursula's. "Look! Professor look! It's life! I made life!"

Ursula backed away in alarm, but smiled nonetheless. "Well done, Akko. Before long, you'll be able to- Careful!"

Her warning came too late.

In the middle of Akko's celebration, she had inadvertently twirled over to a dresser close to the wall, and gasped in horror when she felt her hand nudge against what felt like a picture frame. With no time to react, the picture frame plummeted, breaking in two, shattered glass littering the floor around Akko's feet.

Her heart sank even farther once she got a look at the picture that laid in the wreckage.

Of all the possessions in Ursula's office, of course it just had to be a picture of her younger self.

The image depicted Chariot, rich red hair and all, in her Chariot costume, with her arm playfully draped over Croix's shoulder, other hand making the peace symbol. Croix, meanwhile, could only smile in amusement at her friend's antics.

Hands balled into fists and hovering over her mouth in pure terror, Akko chanced a look in Ursula's direction.

"Professor, I'm s-so sorry! I didn't-"

"Akko, are you unhurt?" Ursula immediately waved off her student's concern, making her way to the broken picture frame.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. But the picture-"

"Don't worry about that," Ursula ordered, inspecting Akko's shoes and ankles, ensuring that no harm had come.

Letting out a long sigh, Ursula confirmed that she was not hurt.

"Thank goodness."

Akko, having calmed down, still couldn't quell the guilt that was still building up in the pit of her gut.

But before she could apologize any further, Ursula whipped out her wand and pointed it at the shattered frame.

" _Altus Craesha."_

On command, the broken pieces of the frame floated and spiraled, accompanied by random flecks of splinters and sparkling shards of glass. Akko backed as far away as possible to avoid being sliced by any stragglers. After a cacophony of clinking glass and clicking wood, the frame reassembled itself effortlessly before it floated back to its usual spot on the dresser.

Ursula made a mental note to make a sweep for any leftover shards of glass.

Sheathing her wand, Ursula – who was just about to reassure Akko that no real harm had been done and there was nothing to fret over – saw her student's gaze down, her eyes welling and threatening to break at any moment.

"Akko," Ursula breathed out. But before she could calm the girl, Akko was already in a downward spiral of despair.

"I-I'm sorry, Professor," she said in a shaky tone, her voice rasping and her breath catching, head hung farther down in shame and embarrassment. "Right wh-when I think I'm making actual progress, I have to go and do something so . . . so-"

"Don't you dare finish whatever it is you're about to say," Ursula demanded, snapping Akko's attention back up. "It doesn't matter how many mistakes you make in life as long as you're sorry for them and learn from them. I know you're aware of some of the mistakes I've made," neither of them had to say out loud which incident she was directly referencing. "When you take two steps backwards, that's what makes you appreciate the one step forward all the more."

To emphasize her point, she looked behind her, directing Akko's tear stained eyes to the single leaf that she had produced.

"What's more is that you'd never do anything like this on purpose. There's no reason for you to feel bad or apologize. Is that understood?"

Akko nodded slowly.

Ursula offered her a reassuring smile accompanied with a hair tousle.

"Just be more careful next time. And . . . if at all possible, keep in mind that my office isn't in any dire need of an indoor pool."

The brunette once again rubbed the back of her head bashfully.

"But like I said, no need to worry. It'll be a breeze to clean up. But it's getting to be suppertime. Why don't you head down with your friends?"

Sniffling, Akko's smile returned, nodding in agreement after her growling stomach gave her away.

"Same time next week?" Akko asked hopefully.

"Of course."

 _Later_ ,

Akko had to verbalize a mantra on her way to the cafeteria in order to not focus on the incident inside Ursula's office.

At the beginning of this school year, the brunette made a new school year resolution (which she's still debating with Sucy about it being real) to not cause as much trouble as she had last year.

So far, she feels as though she wasn't doing the best job.

So far, she's crashed her broom and made everybody worry over her, lost Constanze's flying pirate ship, reminded everybody how unexcited they were for the arrival of the comet, and now, just to add to the list, she flooded Professor Ursula's office and shattered her picture with Croix.

The school year started three weeks ago.

Diana's words of not dwelling over the negatives in life quickly came to mind, but the usually optimistic, bubbly girl found it hard to be optimistic and bubbly when it seemed as if so many accidents happen all at once, and most of them being her fault.

The evening sunlight poured into the walkway, forcing her to shield her eyes and turn her head as she continued to walk forward.

It was only as she was halfway to the cafeteria that she realized that she had forgotten her book bag in Professor Ursula's office.

Akko tugged underneath her eyes in agitation. "Uuuuuuuuuuuggghh!"

Turning on her heel, she began to walk back the way she had just came . . . then froze dead in her tracks.

As she shielded her eyes from the blinding sunlight, she happened to glance out the window and down at the entrance to the forest.

She was certain her vision was still swimmy from her tears, or maybe it was just her food deprived mind playing pranks on her, but after staring at the same spot for a few seconds straight, there was no denying what she saw . . .

The tree thingy!

Its leaf afro bounced as it trotted back into the bush it had more than likely exited from. Before it went through, it turned around, looked to the left, then right. Its thin line of a mouth smiled in contentment, confident that it was not followed . . . until it looked up and stared straight into Akko's eyes.

Akko was almost certain she could hear it squeal in alarm before it darted into the bush.

It took her several moments to register what it was she had just saw before she pumped a fist in the air.

"I knew it!"


	3. The Part When Akko Makes New Friends

Her feet were sore from running for who-knows-how-long, and her still-recovering head was throbbing in a droning cacophony of agony, but Akko paid neither of them mind.

The only thing she had her mind set on was finding that tree thingy and thanking it for saving her yesterday.

Almost from the very moment the small sprite entered Akko's field of vision, her Akko-Instincts took over, propelling her down the hallway, down the stairs, through the cafeteria, rocketing past her confused friends, and out the door in almost record time. Now she dodged and weaved her way through the low-hanging branches of the woods and did her best to avoid receiving scrapes and bruises from the occasional stray twig.

Akko could see her own breath as she panted heavily, chest heaving in quick bursts until black spots filled her vision. Doing her best to ignore the growing fatigue, Akko shook the bulbous black blobs away from her vision, only focusing on staying on her feet and doing her best to think of where the small sprite had wandered off to.

Her feet never once faltering in their forced journey, Akko's mind began to conjure up all potential directions the creature could've traveled in.

 _Let's see, there's a bunch of leaves laying around. I might be able to see if it had left behind a trail for me to follow._

Looking down, Akko observed the ground, disappointed to discover that the leaves had shown little to no signs of disturbance, offering her no clues to its whereabouts.

 _Hmph, that's no good. Uuuuuumm, the bushes? Yeah! With its leafy head, it could hide out in there!_

Coming to a stumbling halt, Akko flailed her arms in a petty attempt to recover her balance, falling on her stomach and skidding forward until she came to a stop in front of a bush. Grinning, the brunette dusted off her uniform and poked her head inside.

Pushing aside stray needles and twigs, Akko maneuvered her neck to dig herself deeper inside, getting a better view.

Nothing there other than the pleasant pine needle scent she usually associates with Christmastime.

Frowning in agitation, Akko pulled out her head and moved to the next bush, doing the same as before and digging her head inside. Taking it out after not having seen anything noteworthy, she continued to exercise her strategy and poked her head into all of the bushes in the surrounding area.

 _Nope._

 _Nuh uh._

 _Not here either._

 _Dang it!_

Right before plummeting her face into another bush, Akko took notice to a particular fuzzy sensation grazing her shoe.

"Eh?"

Looking down, her stomach did a backflip when she noticed the same bird's nest from the night before still laying there undisturbed.

"Uh oh."

The cawing of an angry mother was heard from not very far away.

Not choosing any particular direction to run in, Akko turned on her heel and gunned it, a comical amount of twigs, needles, branches and leaves spraying up behind her in a massive puff as she ran, covering the top of her still pounding head as she ran.

After she managed to shake off the defensive Mama Bird, Akko slowed her run into a steady jog, catching her breath while still scanning the ground carefully for any signs of movement.

Her jog slowed to a hearty sprint. Then her sprint slowed to a walk. Finally, she gave in to her fatigue and rested her hands on her knees, taking in large gulps of air at a time.

Eyes stinging with tears from the crisp air, Akko rubbed them, letting out choking gasps for air in the process.

As she sat, she found it wise to give herself at least a five minute rest before resuming her search . . .

And maybe revise her searching strategy while she was there.

With the throbbing in her head not nearly as agonizing as it had been minutes ago, this allowed Akko to take in slower, more relaxed breathes, forming a more thoughtful approach to her expedition.

She may not be a hunter (honestly even the thought alone of approaching an innocent animal with a weapon made her stomach twist in guilt), but she did understand that things tend to run away when something is chasing them – especially when that thing is more than three times your size.

Another observation that she made was that this thing she was looking for was clearly intelligent: being able to walk on two feet and use its adorably stubby arms to make an opening in a bush for it to walk through having been major indicators.

Then there was the fact that it could actually use magic on its own.

The memory of how that thing had lowered her gently to the ground came flooding back to her, a new sense of motivation to thank this thing properly crashing over her like a tsunami.

With the thought that this thing may actually be a somewhat intelligent creature in mind, Akko rose to her feet and took in one more shaky breath to steady her nerves.

Blindly hoping that at least something would be around to hear her, Akko began to speak.

"Hi! My name is Atsuko Kagari! But all of my friends call me Akko." She smiled, hoping that if the creature could see her, it would immediately think of her as approachable.

Doing her best not to let the silence damper her attitude, she resumed speaking to no one in particular.

"I, uh, I'm not sure if you remember this, but just the other day, you saved me. Remember? I was the one who flew into the woods after I got launched from my broom?" She chuckled nervously. "I guess that'd be pretty hard to forget something like that, huh? Unless that wasn't you." She gasped in horror as a thought came into her mind. "Ih-if that wasn't you, then I'm sorry! I didn't mean to assume! The last thing I want to do is offend you. I'm sure you don't all look the same!" She added that last part a little too forcefully, she noticed.

More silence filled the air.

Her eyes darting back and forth nervously, she did her best to hide her doubt and kept going confidently.

"But if it was you . . . I wanted to say thanks!" Her voice echoed through the open air after her last sentence. "If it weren't for you, I would totally have broken everything in my body. I was really lucky to have had you there and just wanted to say it in person."

Without knowing it, her feet had carried her further into the depths of the woods as if on autopilot, her head craning this way and that to get in a full sweep of her surroundings.

"So, I just want you to know that I'm not gonna hurt you. And I'm sorry for chasing you this far. I kinda have this thing where I do things without thinking them through first. Hehe, my friends all sorts of stories about that!" She broke into a rowdy fit of laughter, as if she had just been told the funniest joke as she reminded herself of all the trouble she had gotten herself into alongside her friends.

She remained silent for a few moments, silently praying that her awkward lures to start some sort of conversation would eventually produce something worthwhile.

When she was met with a gust of wind as her only reply, her eyes wandered down and her shoulders slumped.

But she wasn't planning on throwing in the towel yet.

Her hand brushed against her wand resting in its sheath on her hip, giving her a desperately needed new topic.

"You like magic, right?" She took out her wand and held it in front of her. "I'm a big fan of it too! I figured you liked it since, you know, you used it to save me. I'm not the best at it yet, but I'm getting better!" She added that last part as if _she_ were the one she was trying to convince.

She sat herself down, cross legged, absentmindedly drawing circles in the ground with the tip of her wand. More personal thoughts began to come to mind.

"My teacher is giving me these private lessons. Oh, maybe you've heard of her? Get this, she was my teacher all of last year, and I didn't even know that I was being taught by _the_ Shiny Chariot!" She paused, letting what it was she just revealed sink in to whatever or whoever she was speaking with. "I saw a show of hers when I was younger. It was so pretty and fun and cool and inspiring . . . that's why I'm here today. I joined the school because I want to be just like her. And I've come this far because of her, and because I'm lucky enough to have all of my friends behind me too!

"Most people don't believe in luck, but honestly, it's because of luck that I've gotten this far. I'm lucky I have my friends, I'm lucky that I get to learn at this school, I'm very lucky that my childhood hero is my teacher. And I was lucky yesterday when you saved me. I've been meaning to thank you ever since."

More silence filled her ears.

But if a missile wasn't enough to keep her from attaining her goal, then a little case of the cold shoulder wasn't going to either.

A reinvigorated sense of determination swelling in her gut, Akko shot up to her feet, an ear-to-ear grin somehow finding its way to her face.

"Well, whether you can hear me or not, thank you!"

She spun on her heel, facing the opposite way. "Thank you!" She yelled again, louder this time.

She continued to spin. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank youu _uuuu_!" The empty air echoed back the last lingering few syllables multiple times before finally fading away, leaving Akko alone in silence once again, panting in delight with her arms stretched out both sides, her wand still clutched in her grip.

If anybody who just so happened to have taken a stroll in the woods to enjoy the peaceful day came across Akko, they'd probably do one of two things:

Either ignore her and keep going on their merry way, thinking nothing of it other than a girl who enjoyed time by herself. Or they would call the local loony bin, requesting a spot be made open for a teenage girl with a glowing stick and an overactive imagination.

But she could honestly care less about what people may have thought of her had anybody noticed her. She did what she had set out here to do. Maybe not in the way she had planned, but, for some reason, she could feel in her heart that her message got across.

Lowering her arms back to her sides and sheathing her wand, Akko nodded in affirmation and took one step forward, preparing to march her way back to school . . .

Unfortunately, that single step was all she could take, as the ground underneath her literally gave way, plunging her into darkness.

"GUWAHH!"

The dull throb of her head returned upon hitting the ground, her impact only slightly softened by a small pile of leaves that had built itself underneath the false floor that she had just found.

Rubbing her head and back simultaneously, Akko squinted in pain and looked upward and thanked goodness that the hole she had fallen into was not that deep and could easily be ascended given the right amount of effort be put in to it.

Standing up, the young witch dusted off her uniform once again (it'll take forever to get these stains out!) and mentally berated herself for being so clumsy that she had probably found the only hole that was in these entire woods.

That's when it struck her.

What the heck is this doing here anyways?

She hoped it wasn't a trap built for some sort of inhumanly large creature that she had inadvertently fallen into, but hey, that's probably the worst case scenario.

Looking left and right, Akko nearly jumped out of her skin when a small gust of wind passed by her . . . not from up above, but from a gaping opening looking like the entrance to some sort of deserted cave. Looking the other way, she saw that it was also on the other side as well.

"Is this . . . a tunnel?"

She got her answer in the form of her own voice echoing farther and farther away from her.

Her insatiable curiosity besting her once again, Akko stepped out of the natural spotlight above her and wandered deeper into the black, unable to tell how far it even lead.

It was only after the light beaming through the hole she fell through vanished into the dark that she brought out her wand, illuminating the area around her. It was as if a giant worm had burrowed a tunnel into the ground and simply kept moving forward, for there was no sign of anything artificial inside, not even support beams to hold it up. It was just a seemingly never ending hole in the ground.

As the dry soil continued to squish underneath her shoes, Akko realized that she had lost track of time quite a while after she took off running into the woods, and her friends are more than likely wondering what it was she had been chasing after, or what was taking her so long.

She would have to think of a more logical excuse for them later.

Her stomach growling, she also realized that she had skipped supper for this search, not realizing beforehand that it would take this long . . .

Or lead to.

Her breathing hitched in her lungs for a split second after her eyes caught the faintest trace of light shimmering on a far off wall like a shadow.

Her feet picked up speed subconsciously, propelling her into a brisk walk, then into an eager jog, and finally into an impatient sprint, the light emitting from the wand washing over all crevices in the tunnel making it appear as if a party were being held underground.

As she drew closer to the literal light at the end of the tunnel, she failed to notice a slight descent in the walkway. With a startled yelp, her foot caught her from falling on her face, but her forward momentum carried her forward, forcing the girl into an unwanted downhill run. Her feet now acting at their own accord, Akko's hands all but flailed maniacally as she got closer and closer to the bottom, which she now saw was the source of the light she was heading towards.

"Whoawhoawhoawhoawhoawhoa!"

She closed her eyes and held her hands in front of her. She could feel the ground level itself out, but her speed brought her forward even still.

Still afraid to open her eyes, the girl failed to notice a rock jutting out from the ground.

She kicked the rock with full force, each individual toe feeling like they had just been run over by a semi-truck that was hauling several hundred tons of farming equipment. All the brunette could do now was shield her face as she fell head first onto the ground, skidding multiple yards and leaving a furrow of dirt in her wake.

Her eyes remained closed throughout the ordeal, so the moment she felt her shoulder make contact with something came as a surprise.

Snapping her eyes open in shock, she saw that she had crashed into a shoddily built tower made out of sticks and mud. It almost resembled a silo which, had she been standing up, was only a few inches taller than her.

She blinked. Then blinked again to get rid of the lingering dizziness. She planted her hands underneath her and pushed her body up into a kneeling position, frowning at the ever growing stains on her uniform.

Movement was caught in the corner of her eye.

Turning her head to the side, she almost passed out from surprise.

It was a tiny village. Little huts were scattered about with a smooth trail of dirt twisting and turning around them, giving off the illusion that it was a city street.

But it wasn't only the small community of buildings that held her attention like a hostage.

It was the fifteen sets of tiny, black pupils staring at her in awe.

Akko returned their shocked expressions with one of her own.

They all looked the same as the one she had found yesterday, only with little variations of their bodies to differentiate them. Some were thinner and some were thicker than others while others had bushier afros compared to others who merely had a patch of grass atop their craniums, giving them a spiky, wavy appearance. But they all had the same distinctive stubby limbs and dots for eyes.

The brunette wasn't entirely sure what it was she was meant to do. Stand up and introduce herself? Slowly back away and pretend she never saw them? Try to find the one she had met yesterday and thank it properly this time?

For now, she settled on awkwardly clearing her throat, standing upright and dusting off her uniform once again, all while never once taking her eyes off of the curious specimens before her.

Once she was fully upright, she opened her mouth in preparation to speak . . . but was interrupted by the sound of cracking twigs. Looking down, she found the source of it.

From the point where she crashed into the makeshift silo, the damaged sticks had taken its toll on the structure as it began to list precariously forward. Akko yelped and sidestepped out of the way as it crumbled apart like a delicate house of cards, snapped twigs and mounds of dirt piling up at her feet as well as its innards: multiple vines and clumps of grapes as well as apples, oranges and pears.

After the last of the fruit spilled out and the final piece of the silo came to a rest, the area surrounding them became filled with a pregnant silence that she was now even more reluctant to break. She could feel her heart swell up in guilt and embarrassment in her chest, fisting the hem of her skirt in anxiousness as she waited for one of the creatures to say something, if they even could.

Their tiny eyes went to what remained of the silo, then to the brunette, then back and forth and back.

She saw one of them lift its stubby arm in her direction, and all at once, their eyes froze in her general direction until-

"Our harvest has been defiled!"

"It'll take us months to rebuild!"

"Get her!"

The shock of finally hearing one of their tiny voices causing her to jump back in alarm for a split moment, she regained her composure and smiled sheepishly at the tree thingy who had the accusatory 'finger' pointed at her.

"I'm uh, real sorry ab- hah?"

Before she could fully form an apology, the tiny, now livid mob of trees marched their way over to her feet and gripped her ankles, yanking backwards harshly and forcing the young girl to land on her back with a frightened squeal. Wasting no time, the remaining creatures made their way over and clambered on top of the girl, tiny eyes glaring daggers at her as they did.

Her heart pounding, she swatted and batted at them, sending them rolling clumsily in the dirt. Kicking off the last of them, Akko rose to her feet and hopped away from the swarm, careful as to not accidentally hop on any of them or destroy any other buildings in the process.

The aggravated specimens weren't done with her yet though, as they scooped up balls of soil and dirt and chucked them in her direction. For their small size, their throwing arms were surprisingly strong, as some of them managed to reach Akko's face and shirt, smearing them even more.

"Hey! Hey, come on!" She protested as dirt flew into her mouth. "Pfft. C'mon! Grow up a little, would ya?! Who even throws dirt anymore anyways?!"

Her arguments fell upon deaf ears as they continued to hurl their unlimited ammo at her with no sign of them stopping in sight.

As a slightly larger sized clump of dirt struck her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her, she realized she had to come up with a plan to appease them and make up for her mistake.

Eyes darting left and right, an idea formed when they landed on the piled up remains of the silo she had accidentally destroyed, various fruits lying about as well. She also remembered the incident in Ursula's office not even an hour ago involving the picture frame atop her dresser.

A flicker of hope igniting in her chest and determination flaring within her veins, Akko leapt forward, once again careful as to where she landed so she didn't bring any harm to the already frustrated creatures. As she landed, a few of them dove forward to avoid being crushed, tiny arms attempting to cover the back of their heads (which they couldn't possibly reach, but Akko found it adorable nonetheless).

Clearing the mob and dodging the balls of dirt, Akko made it to the base of the silo and unsheathed her wand, pointing it down at the rubble.

Akko didn't even notice that the dirt had stopped being flung and that all eyes were all but glued to the wand she held in her grasp, tiny mouths agape in shock. Paying them no mind, Akko took in a calming breath and let Ursula's instructions take over.

 _Intentions . . . check._

 _Cleared mind . . . a little hard right now but I'll try my best._

 _Here I go!_

She raised the wand above her head and flicked it down aggressively.

" _Altus Craesha!"_

After a painful moment of nothing happening, the tip of her wand glowed a brilliant aura and shot out a sparking ball of green. Upon impact, the spell took effect, the twigs, dirt and an assortment of fruits spiraling and repairing itself. Akko was now holding her wand in a white knuckled grip, her brow furrowed and her tongue was out in fierce concentration.

Some of the twigs snapped back together with ease while others were caught in the floating assortment of dirt, but bit by bit, the silo was surely rebuilding itself.

Starting from the bottom, the swirling tornado of sticks and mud formed a circular base, allowing the fruit to come to a rest inside as the silo built up higher and higher. After about a minute, the last of the fruit filled the top, and the dome was reformed, completing the job.

Akko let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and began inspecting her handiwork.

It was sloppy to say the least; snapped twigs were jutting out from the sides as they stuck into the mud and the domed top was rather crooked at second glance. But it was still solid and didn't appear to be in any danger of falling over again any time soon. To test it, however, Akko took two small, nervous footsteps toward it, wary of it falling directly on top of her.

Wand still in hand, she reached forward and poked it, flinching in fear as she did.

When nothing happened, she poked it again, and one more time for good measure.

She let out a sigh of relief and deemed it safe to sheath her wand once more.

Pivoting on her heel, Akko placed her hands on her hips and glared down at her tiny attackers, who have all but given up on throwing dirt at her and were now marveling at how quickly their food container had been reassembled. When they felt her eyes upon them, they one by one turned and looked at the girl.

"Just who do you think you are?" Akko demanded, her previous motives of thanking one of them having washed away and momentarily forgotten, a new drive to give these things a piece of her mind having taken its place.

"I mean sure, I came barging in here and accidentally wrecked something of yours, but you didn't have to freak out over it!" Her arms were flailing in the air and her voice was cracking. "You didn't even give me a chance to apologize! You just kept throwing stuff at me! Do you know how hard it is to wash these? I know because I always have to at detention! It takes forever! Luna Nova doesn't have-"

"You're from Luna Nova."

Akko paused mid rant, mildly annoyed at the interruption.

All heads turned to the one who had said this. It wasn't even phrased as a question, but more of an observation after having looked her up and down.

"I guess that explains the uniform," the small voice continued. "I swear it's been the same for the past century. I don't understand why that place is so afraid to change. Those colors I've felt like have always just drained the life out of the students."

Akko gazed down at her uniform self-consciously, red present in her cheeks.

She shook her head in an attempt to regain her concentration, continuing her tirade. "Th-that's not what's important here! How can you just bully some poor person who fell into your-"

She cut herself off after her eyes fell on a familiar looking tree creature.

She wasn't sure how she knew, but out of all of the nearly identical specimens before her, she knew that was the one she was looking for.

"It's you!"

Pointing, Akko's outburst lead to all of the others to turn their heads to the one in particular she was referring to. She couldn't be sure from this distance, but Akko was pretty certain their eyes narrowed at it.

Her heart sank when it began to shiver in fear, arms curled in its sides and leaves noticeably trembling.

Before she could say anything else, more accusations began to fly left and right.

"You said you weren't spotted!"

"How could you let some girl see you?!"

"This is most disappointing."

Her frustration over being interrupted was now overwhelmed by the swelling sense of injustice.

"You leave him alone!"

All eyes went back to her. "If it weren't for him, I'd have a lot worse than a concussion right now! And I came all the way down here to find him and say thanks! What kind of living creatures punish somebody for helping?!"

"The kind that needs to stay hidden."

The voice that answered wasn't hostile in its tone, but it was well reserved and fairly harmless. The tree creature it belonged to stepped up to the front of the group. It was stout in its stature, but had the bushiest afro of leaves out of all of them.

And frankly, Akko had a difficult time determining whether this one was male or female (and wisely held her tongue to inquire about it).

"As for your previous question . . . we're Yggdrasilians. To simply put it, we're the last remaining, and living remnants of Yggdrasil."

Akko used everything in her power to prevent her jaw from unhinging from her face and falling flat on the ground.

"Or you can call us Yiggins for short. Whichever you prefer."


	4. The Part When Akko Gets the Boot

If she were honest with herself, Akko wasn't entirely sure how long she had been spaced out for.

The last thing she remembered was the supposed leader of the tiny walking trees claiming that they were made from Yggdrasil itself. After that, her brain had almost physically unscrewed her skull, leapt out of the empty shell and zoomed off into space in order to find some sort of explanation behind all of this.

A part of her almost convinced herself that this was a hallucination that was caused by Sucy after she had somehow managed to get her to 'test' another one of her potions. But the light bruises peppering her skin and the grimy stains decorating her uniform said otherwise.

Another theory she conjured up was the slight possibility that, due to her food deprived state, her mind had projected these images before her. But for every step they took, she could see legitimate footprints being left behind, debunking that theory almost instantly on arrival.

And the fact that they had managed to scoop up dirt into balls and hurl them at her face was also a dead giveaway.

None of these straying thoughts had given her any reason to not believe that she was experiencing this for real, but she still had the hardest time accepting it. It's not every day that one stumbles upon an ancient race of walking trees that are actually descendants to the original source of all magic, right?

Unsure of how long she had been silent (though for probably a decent amount of time, if the confused and slightly concerned faces they were exchanging with one another were anything to go off of), Akko mentally slapped herself out of her reverie and back to reality.

"Ok, so," the lost girl started, still trying to get a hold of her footing on her sanity, "you're telling me that you're all Yggdrasil's babies?"

"Not necessarily," their leader corrected her. "That would imply some form of a reproduction process." Akko mentally gagged. "Whereas we didn't come _from_ Yggdrasil. We _are_ Yggdrasil."

When the leader of the bunch could see that not an awful lot of information was being absorbed, she decided a different approach was needed.

"Come with us. Your answers will come, but you must remain patient."

The leader's instructions reminded Akko of some of Ursula's teachings.

Turning, the cluster of Yiggins began to walk almost perfectly in sync with one another, walking to a location that they had somehow all known they were going to go to without having verbally shared it with the group. Akko decided that the best course of action, at least for the time being, was to do as she was told and follow them.

Feeling like a lumbering giant in the midst of a forest that only barely reached up to her shins, Akko trailed safely behind the group, making extra certain to not step on anything/anyone.

As she followed, her eyes wandered this way and that, soaking in the new environment and everything it had to offer. She may be getting better in her focusing skills, but her curiosity was what made her . . . her; At least according to her friends (even though Sucy tended to poke fun at her for her lack of focus). Her eyes ceaselessly scanning the new surroundings, Akko was able to observe that the small community to its fullest.

The biggest thing she took notice in was that the town was built in a circular shape, the winding trail of dirt acting as its impromptu street twisting and turning, connecting the huts and teepees with one another in almost a labyrinth formation, accommodating to the environment's circumference.

Along the dirt walls were even more holes, no doubt leading to more tunnels that traveled underneath the forest floor, identical to the one she had just fallen through that got her in her current situation. It lead her to question just how complex the series of tunnels were, and how many there were; but before she could verbally express her curiosity, she stopped herself, remembering the leader's instructions to remain patient.

However, that thought only lead to another aching question.

"So, what do I call you guys?"

Not even breaking stride, the lead Yiggin turned around and, while walking backwards, gave the girl a questioning glance.

"I told you. We're Yggdrasilians. An ancient civilization-"

Akko waved her arms in an embarrassed attempt to halt the speech.

"No no no no no no no. Sorry, that's not what I meant. Uuum, how do I put this?" She tapped her chin, still following the group. "See, I'm human. And humans have all sorts of different names. It's a way to tell each other apart and communicate. So, what are all of your names?"

Before the makeshift field trip entered the entrance to one of the several tunnels, they all stopped at once. Akko reeled on her tiptoes, arms flailing in a windmill fashion to keep herself from falling forward.

The leader looked mildly annoyed. "After all these years down here, I've truly forgotten how impatient humans tend to be," referring to the broken rule.

Akko's cheeks reddened in both embarrassment and irritation.

Sighing, the leader, continuing to walk flawlessly backwards, shook its head. "If you will, allow your imagination to take hold."

There was a command Akko didn't have to try hard to follow.

The leader ushered the Yiggins and Akko into another tunnel.

"The human body is comprised of different organs and cells that serve a specific purpose to maintaining its health, correct?" Akko nodded. "The same can be said for trees. In our case, Yggdrasil."

"We're all made up of Yggdrasil's vital anatomical structure," another Yiggin offered.

The leader of the Yiggins nodded in confirmation, still walking backwards. It was clear that they have traversed these tunnels enough to walk through them blindfolded without getting lost or stumbling into something.

"Just as you have your heart and lungs, we represent the bark, sapwood, cambium, and all other necessary components of life that brought Yggdrasil into existence."

"I'm the liver!" One of the Yiggins proudly proclaimed.

Akko's eyes were wide, utterly fascinated.

Due to her lessons with Professor Ursula, Akko's attention span had significantly increased. She was still curious and anxious, but as of the beginning of this school year, the brunette's ability to absorb information had noticeably increased.

She walked a few steps forward in silence, letting the information soak in.

"In response to your question, however," the leader continued, "we have no need of names. We have come from the same living organism. We know who we're speaking to and who's addressing us without the need of labels. Isn't that right?"

"I'm the liver!"

Akko jumped at the outburst.

Once her heart settled down, the young witch couldn't help but allow a few straggling thoughts crossed her mind as they walked deeper into the tunnel.

"Labels?"

"Yes. The tools you use to differentiate yourselves from other humans have no merit to our existence."

Akko frowned.

"But, that's not right."

She stopped walking forward.

The Yiggins froze as well, all eyes turning to look at the girl.

"Names aren't labels," she said as if she were correcting a child who mispronounced a word. "They're unique. They help make us into who we are and have meaning."

The lead Yiggin looked unimpressed.

"And what is it that _your_ name means, Akko?"

Akko innocently shrugged. "That's the fun part! You have to give it a meaning yourself. I haven't done that yet, but I hope that in the future, people will recognize it all over the world as a master witch! Like Shiny Chariot!"

Before she could continue to relish in her passion, she paused.

"How did you know my name?"

"You weren't necessarily quiet on your way into our home," the leader deadpanned. "Remember? You all but proclaimed your life story to the entire forest. When you followed our member to our hideaway." One of the Yiggins lowered its head in embarrassment.

"Well," Akko interjected, "I'm not gonna call you guys 'heart', or 'lung one' and 'lung two' or anything gross like that. I'll think of names for you soon enough!" The girl smiled, establishing her intent with almost a reassuring zeal.

"No need," the lead Yiggin instantly shot down her offer. "Giving us a name would imply that you would return to our home. Which you're not."

" . . . Eh?"

Akko hadn't realized it, but in the midst of their walk, they had lead the oblivious girl onto a piece of bark that was roughly the size of a door. Around the two ends of the bark were tightly wrapped vines that lead up to a skylight, exposing the late evening air and the outside world above.

The lead Yiggin walked over to one of the walls and dug into the soil, pulling out a vine for itself.

"For the record, it's no use telling anybody about all of this. I doubt they'd believe you."

Before Akko could so much as blink, the vine was yanked, activating some sort of invisible mechanism that elevated the bark with a frightening leap, tripping the girl to her knees at the sudden ride upwards.

Screaming, Akko's journey upwards wasn't a long one, as she broke the surface almost instantly, all traces of the Yiggins and the dark tunnel lost beneath her. Her body jolted upwards the moment the piece of bark came to rest, blocking her way back down.

The shock slowly subsiding, Akko looked left, then right, gazing at the open forest. She blinked away the remaining wariness, replacing it with a bubbled up sense of annoyance.

She crawled onto her hands and knees, bending down and pressing her ear to the ground, listening for anything that might suggest that they were still beneath her. She couldn't hear so much as their feet pittering away.

Grunting, she decided that the next best course of action was to resort to violence.

She pounded furiously against the bark, yelling very particular obscenities in their direction.

"You promised me you'd tell me more!"

She pounded against it ceaselessly, hoping that she would at some point weaken the integrity of the bark, but the only thing she accomplished was gaining multiple cuts and callouses on her fist. Once she had worn herself out, she stopped, panting and growling beneath her breath.

Confirming that she will get no results this way, the young witch determined her next course of action . . .

Pouting.

"I'm not leaving this spot until you let me back in!"

As a symbol of her resolve, she sat down on the bark cross legged and aggressively crossed her arms, closing her eyes and holding her chin up with pride.

She couldn't help but be reminded of the similar situation when she assisted the school's groundskeepers in their strike last year, and that (though not in the way she had thought), had been fairly successful.

 _Well, if it worked last time, it should again, right?_

After thirty minutes of waiting, her gut was beginning to bet against that hunch.

As well as her growling stomach.

Patting her empty belly in a vain effort to appease it, Akko let out a shivering sigh.

Despite her usually rock solid determination and perseverance, she had also learned when it is acceptable to admit defeat as she clambered back on to her feet, dusting off fallen leaves and dirt from the bottom of her skirt.

She made a mental note that no harm would (probably) not come from embarking on another search within the next few days. If she stumbled on it once, then her luck would most certainly carry her again to another one of their entrances.

She hadn't noticed how malnourished she had been feeling until after she stretched her legs, head spinning and eyes watering.

Stubbornness was often a taxing trait.

But despite her food-deprivated state, she began mapping out her next plan of attack for the next time she ventured out to find them.

And what she would tell her friends she was doing when she got back.

She wasn't entirely sure why, but she made the executive decision right then and there to keep the existence of the Yggdrasilians a secret. Though it pained her to keep things from her friends, it was fairly obvious that these creatures were doing everything in their power to keep themselves hidden from the public eye. Akko wasn't entirely sure why, but she also felt it wasn't her place to reveal them if they weren't ready yet.

Besides, that probably wouldn't score her any brownie points with them in the long run, and her short reputation with them hasn't been exactly favorable thus far. No need to stoke those flames.

In the middle of her walk, Akko found some peace of mind through the calming sounds of the forest.

Her muddled mind became calmer with every step she took, taking in the tweeting of the birds (and keeping a cautious eye out for any vengeful mama birds) and the wind breathing through the leaves. Akko smiled as she eyed a squirrel as it ran down the length of a nearby tree. It reached the ground and scampered a few feet behind Akko . . . pushing aside a small bundle of leaves and revealing a foxhole.

With not so much as a sideways glance at anything else, the squirrel submerged itself and began to descend in the soil.

Akko stopped walking.

She could almost feel the idea travel through her veins and reach her brain stem, crawling its way up and activating the cartoonish lightbulb switch. Although, this was a dimmer, somewhat less founded lightbulb, as she wasn't entirely certain this would work.

Pushing her upset stomach to the back of her mind, Akko turned on her heel and made her way to the hole in the dirt.

Standing directly above it, Akko drew her wand and pointed it at the hole, eyes brimming with determination and resolve . . . she then slumped her shoulders once she realized that she had no idea what kind of spell it was she needed to use.

She impatiently tapped the wand against her knee, racking her brain for anything that she could remember from her classes that would give her the answer.

 _Let's see, arbourore meant anything and everything that had to do with the earth. So I'll probably have to use a spell somewhere along those lines. But what about getting the hole bigger? A shape shifting adjective maybe? Maaaaaaan, there's not many times when I would wish for one of Diana's perfection at everything she does, but damn if this isn't one of them._

Not wishing to cause any damage to the environment, Akko sheathed her wand and decided that this had to be done the old fashioned way.

Just a few feet away from where she was standing was a fallen limb that she decided was the correct tool for the job. Grabbing it, she gripped it in both hands and dug it into the soil, repeatedly pounding it in an effort to get deeper into the ground. She fell into a steady rhythm of stabbing, then made a stirring motion as if she were in potions class, widening the entrance little by little.

 _Stab._

 _Stab._

 _Stab._

 _Stir . . . Stir . . ._

 _Stab._

 _Stab._

 _Stab._

 _Stir . . . Stir . . ._

"C'mon, c'mon . . ." sweat dripped off of her brow from the labor and her growling stomach had returned with a vengeance. She paid neither of them mind as she progressively dug deeper into the earth.

Her arms burned and her balance wavered from the repetitive motions, her lungs burned in protest and her stomach called out for food . . . She forgot all of those instantaneously once she felt the limb break through, now touching nothing.

Eyes wide in shock, she lifted the limb up and down as if she were plunging a toilet, trying to decide whether or not she believed what she was feeling.

As soon as she came to a satisfactory conclusion, she all but launched the impromptu shovel away from her and dove head first into the now Akko-sized entrance, clawing and pounding her way through the soil.

Dirt dug its way deep into the brunette's fingernails and the occasional speck of earth found its way into her mouth, but she ignored these inconveniences and pushed her way downward like a dog looking for a bone long since buried.

With one final scoop of dirt, Akko's hand broke through and was suspended in open air. Her heart fluttered in excitement as she reached her other hand forward, widening the hole to the point where she could squish her face through.

Peering through the dirt that clouded her vision, Akko was undeniably back inside the tunnel.

 _Er, one of them at least._

Before she could contort her compacted body into a position ready enough to safely drop in, gravity took a firm hold and pulled her out of the hole.

" _BWAGAAH_!"

Before she knew it, she was lying face down on the tunnel floor.

Ignoring her fatigued muscles, which were begging for rest now, Akko sprawled back onto her feet and ran forward. She wasn't sure if this was the correct way or not, but it had to lead somewhere.

Following the winding path laid out before her, Akko panted relentlessly, but also showed no sign of slowing down.

Along the winding path came multiple turns. She had no way of knowing whether left or right was the correct way other than the feeling in her gut that propelled her to make those decisions. Her feet grew weary and her knees threatened to give at any moment from fatigue.

After a short eternity, she rounded a corner that lead to another tunnel, but light could be seen from around its bend.

Eyes brimming with hope, the girl felt her second wind kick in, all weariness having been forgotten.

The closer she got to the upcoming turn, the clearer she could hear a set of small voices.

 _There they are._

She rapidly approached the turn that no doubt lead to the community of walking trees (which just so happened to be the direct descendants of the birth of magic itself) with her typical sense of abandon . . . and only slowed down when she was able to clearly process what they were saying.

"No! Don't let them in!"

Her feet slid in the soil to a faltering stop just inches before the entrance to the village.

Pressing her back firmly to the wall, Akko peeked around the corner and saw three of the Yiggins quickly running in one direction, disappearing from sight almost the instant Akko had looked. Taking the extra risk, Akko shimmied her body along the wall in an attempt to stay hidden, tiptoeing closer to the entrance. Thankfully, the village appeared to be barren. Throwing caution to the wind this time, Akko leaned the upper half of her body around the corner and fully saw what was happening.

Or . . . what wasn't happening.

The same three Yiggins who she had seen running were making their way to a tunnel on the other side of the village, disappearing inside.

After a few moments of silence, save for the occasional yelps of shock and dismay of the startled Yggdrasilians, Akko deemed it safe to enter the small community and make her way across to the same tunnel that they had just run through.

 _The heck are they doing?_

She entered the other tunnel just in time to see their backs vanish behind another corner. Akko wasted no time to give chase silently, hoping not to give away her position anytime soon.

It didn't take long for her to catch up with them, but she wasn't prepared in the slightest for the hectic scene before her.

First off, the most outstanding feature of this particular tunnel were the various roots and vines sprouting from the top and sides of it, a wide assortment of fruit including grapes, apples, pears and oranges growing from them as if it were a compacted vineyard. The vines and stems stuck out and tangled with one another in a spider web of green, purple, red and orange.

That was when she realized that this must have been the place where they . . . farmed.

The second thing she noticed was the wildlife that had found their way inside the tunnels and sniffed out their produce, deciding for themselves that they were ripe for the picking. The collection of badgers, squirrels and chipmunks were either sniffing curiously at the fruit, plucking them from their vines and carrying them off, or retreating from the retaliating Yggdrasilians as they threw mounds of dirt at the animals.

 _Why don't they just use magic to fight them off?_

But their battle tactics weren't enough to keep the intruders at bay. Once they had fled from the balls of dirt, they immediately continued to sniff and prod at the hanging treats, plucking them when they found the opportunity.

"No!"

Despite the less than hospitable welcome she had received from the Yiggins, Akko couldn't stop the swelling sense of pity for the defenseless creatures.

She didn't know much about them, but she also wouldn't appreciate it if a bunch of animals had broken in to her home and began ransacking the place for her hard-earned food.

Acting upon pure impulse, the young witch abandoned her hiding spot and drew her wand immediately, taking aim at the animals. Of course, she wasn't going to hurt them, but rather her aim was pointed at the ground close to the animals.

Eyes narrowing in a cross between irritation and focus, Akko cast the spell.

" _Murowa_!"

A bolt of green erupted from the tip of her wand, rocketed over the shocked Yiggins' heads, and impacted on the ground, sending a shower of dirt over the startled wildlife. A badger jumped in shock, then sniffed the small crater curiously.

The Yiggins turned and were surprised (to say the least) to see the same person they had just banished defending their produce.

"A-Akko?"

The witch recognized that particular voice as the leader's. She ignored their stunned glances and marched forward, all but chanting the defensive spell.

" _Murowa! Murowa! Murowa!"_

Green light illuminated the otherwise light-deprived tunnel in rapid bursts, giving the impression that the sickest of raves was being held underground. Burned soil and dirt rained down from all directions, startling the animals back in the direction they came, dropping whatever stolen cargo they had been carrying in their mouths. She aimed carefully, as to neither hit the fruit nor the animals, but luckily, her aim still left much to be desired, meaning that all she had hit were the walls and ceiling.

Fruit rolled across her feet as she continued marching forward, careful as to not trip over the vines wrapping around the floor.

After one more blast, Akko decided that was enough and sheathed her wand, watching as the last chipmunk rounded the corner and out of sight.

She let out a sigh and balled her fists, then unclenched them as she bent down and picked up an apple. Standing upright, Akko brought the fruit close to her face, inspecting it thoroughly, checking for any bruises or bite marks. Nodding in satisfaction, the brunette made her way back to the taken aback Yiggins, who eyed her in disbelief.

Their shock was amplified when Akko stopped in front of their leader, knelt down on both knees, smiled, and offered the apple to it.

"They shouldn't be back for a while," she declared, the friendly smile still not leaving her face.

Not sure of what else to do, the leader took the apple from her hands and into his own (Akko had made the assumption that these creatures were male) stubby ones. He looked up at Akko, then down to the apple, then back up.

"You helped us." Again, he stated it merely as an observation.

Akko simply nodded. "Yep! And you can expect more from where that came from, Tilly!"

The leader blinked in surprise, his grip on the apple (which was comically oversized in his arms) wavered. "What . . . what did you call me?"

"Tilly!" Akko repeated. "I thought it kind of sounded like tree, so I went with it! Plus it's really cute." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I know about what you said about me not giving you a name since you didn't want me coming back, but if I hadn't come back . . . how long have they been taking your food?"

Tilly lowered his gaze. "At least twelve times per harvest."

Akko shook her head. "Welp, you don't have to worry about that anymore! As long as I'm here, at least!" She looked as if she was going to add more to her declaration, but her train of thought was derailed by another realization.

"Oh! Here, let's get this cleaned up!"

Without waiting for the rest, the energetic girl turned her back to the Yiggins and began picking up the fallen pieces of fruit, too wrapped up in her efforts to notice the awe that was emanating from them.

It wasn't even an hour ago they had thrown her out and told her not to return.

Yet, here she was.

Not only had she basically single handedly gotten rid of their pest infestation, but now she was picking up their mess for them. Again, not even an hour they had thrown her out.

"Huh," one of the Yiggins breathed out. "Maybe witches aren't like how they were before."

Their leader, now named Tilly, dropped the apple and turned to address the confused Yggdrasilians.

"Slow down. She's one witch out of . . . however many witches are in that school. But, she is definitely . . . different."

Tilly paused, turned around and watched the girl innocently continue to pick up the spilled fruit.

"I think she could be able to help us out."

Akko paused in her actions and looked over her shoulder, now slightly irritated.

"Hey, hey! I know I'm helping out, but you guys could lend a hand too!"

 _Later_ ,

With all of them focusing their efforts on picking up the fallen fruit, inspecting them to find out which ones were worth keeping and which ones to throw out, the entire process took less than fifteen minutes.

Storing the still healthy food in the silo, the Yiggins took the opportunity to thank the girl, though she always dismissed them and deemed it not necessary.

Afterwards, Tilly insisted that Akko follow them down another tunnel, though she was admittedly somewhat wary on trusting that request after what had happened earlier.

"Don't worry," Tilly reassured. "The elevator is only in that tunnel. Besides, we're not going in one."

Deciding no harm would come in humoring them for a little while longer, Akko followed the group as they lead her to the dead center of the community. The Yggdrasilians formed a circle around Akko and Tilly, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable with all eyes on her.

"Do you know exactly where we are, Miss Akko?"

Taken slightly aback at the more formal recognition, Akko thought about the question as hard as she could before she ultimately shook her head.

"Look around you," Tilly instructed. "What is the first thing you notice? And please answer freely, this is not a trick question."

A thoughtful finger on her chin, Akko looked around the room. "Well, there are all the huts, obviously," she murmured rather quietly, awkwardly playing with her skirt, unsure of what answer Tilly was looking for.

"Yes. And believe it or not, those are the only artificially made structures in here."

"But what about the tunnels?" Akko pointed to one. "Someone had to have made those!"

"Not some _one_ , Miss Akko. Some _thing_. You see, we are currently standing where Yggdrasil's roots once took ground."

The Yggdrasilians anticipated the shock that the young girl must be feeling at the moment, which is why none of them spoke for the next several seconds, allowing Akko to fully grasp what it was Tilly had just said.

Even still, her mind couldn't fully wrap around it.

Despite this, Tilly continued.

"These 'tunnels' are actually the system of roots that fastened us to the earth so many centuries ago. Once Yggdrasil vanished, this was all that remained," Tilly spread out his tiny arms, gesturing to everything around them. "That's why Luna Nova is established where it currently is; it's within close proximity to, what is now referred to them as, 'ground zero'. The birthplace of all magic."

They remained silent for another moment.

"Now, you're aware of the reason of Yggdrasil's disappearance, surely."

Akko nodded. "Professor Ursula and the other teachers said that it was because the magic got used up over time."

"Yes," Tilly confirmed. "What many fail to realize is that all plant life are living, breathing things. And with the ability to live comes the ability to comprehend. All plants are able to freely think for themselves. Yggdrasil was no different."

In all honesty, Akko was fighting to keep her eyelids from drooping too far. Her attention span was beginning to wear down at the Yiggin's lecture.

 _At least Ursula attempted to make her lessons interesting_.

But this was vital information that she felt not many others (if anyone at all) knew about. She fought back her drowsiness and continued to listen intently.

"Within the last fifty years of its existence, Yggdrasil knew its days were now numbered. It foresaw only a few ways for it to continue living. Of the multitude of options it had, it picked the two that had the most promising results to keep it alive. One of them was . . . well, us. As we explained before, we _are_ Yggdrasil. It split itself into all of us."

"I'm the liver!"

Akko looked around the group, allowing the information to be stored in her memory.

"Then," Akko started, "what was the other thing?"

Tilly smiled. "You're a fan of magic. I'm sure you know."

It was true. Akko already had a creeping suspicion, but she wanted to hear it from Tilly himself.

"Claiomh Solais."

Tilly nodded. "The wand stored the remainder of Yggdrasil's magic, whereas we metaphorically keep the tree alive. Though, with some magical prowess of our own, mind you." To demonstrate his point, he raised his stubby arms and allowed a green and blue light to glow from each of them. Akko stepped back in surprise. But almost as quickly as the lights came, they flickered and faded. "Though, not nearly as sufficient." Tilly frowned.

Akko furrowed her eyebrows, making sure she was for sure counting the Yiggin's correctly.

"Hmm," she rubbed her chin. "You'd think that from a tree that big, it would make more of you."

Tilly's frown deepened. "There were."

Akko could feel a cold shock rip at her heart, followed up with a gut punch from guilt and a hair tug from Oh-My-Gosh-Why-In-The-Heck-Did-You-Have-To-Bring-That-Up standing idly in the corner. Her arms flailed wildly in front of her in defense. "I'msosorryIdidn'tknowaboutthatIdidn'tmeantobringupanypainfulmemories-"

"Miss Akko!" Tilly silenced the girl. "It's alright!" He gave Akko a reassuring look. "You didn't know, it's perfectly fine."

Akko breathed out in relief, placing a hand over her pounding chest.

"That's why this place is our home. If we go beyond ground zero for too long or too many times, we fade away, and our magic with us. We vanish from this world forever and join our brothers and sisters in . . . what you witches call the _Leylines_."

Tilly made sure to be extra careful to not let Akko notice the snarl in his tone.

Thankfully, Akko didn't seem to catch on.

Rather, she looked as if she were still digesting the information. Tilly couldn't blame her in the slightest. This was an awful lot to spring up on a girl all at once. Though she seemed fairly ditzy and forgetful upon the first impression, she was doing a decent enough job at following along.

It was only after a few more moments of silence that Akko finally worked up the courage to ask the one nagging question that had been present in the back of her head for the past several minutes since this lesson began.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because Miss Akko," Tilly gave her a knowing smile, "if you're going to make a habit out of visiting us, it is important you understand why."

AN:/ Hello good people of the LWA fandom! I'm not normally one for leaving author's notes, but I feel like this definitely needed an explanation. For those of you who read the chapter last night or today, you may now notice that the ending is significantly trimmed down. That's because after thinking back on it, I was pretty dissatisfied with the way I wrapped it up and decided that the best spot to cut it was right here. So I updated it accordingly.

That part out of the way, I genuinely hope you're enjoying the story! The last story I wrote was a gravity falls fic two years ago, so my techniques have felt pretty rusty, but I'm enjoying where this story is going thus far, so I hope the characters are staying true to the wonderful show. There's still plenty of ground to cover, but I don't believe this story will be over ten or eleven chapters. But we'll see where this thing take us! And thanks a million to wolfwhispers and the guest reviewer (you know who you are) for your loyalty and esteem-boosting reviews!

Like many other writers on the site, reviews make me smile!


	5. The Part When Akko Lends a Hand

Ursula walked across the school grounds with a bucket of fish gripped in both hands, her mouth in a straight line and her mind lost in a whirlwind of thought.

Akko had arrived closer to curfew than the young instructor was comfortable with last night. This time, her uniform was a muddy mess and she wore a sheepish smile. Ursula, accompanied by Akko's usual group of friends, had found the girl reentering the school after having ran out of the cafeteria without so much as a "heyhowareyacan'ttalknowgottagobye", with her hands forming a pouch with her skirt, a pile of red and white lumps inside.

It was only after Akko had reached into the makeshift pouch and pulled out a mushroom, offering it to Sucy and exclaimed that she had found a patch of them and had to pick some for her friend that they were offered some sort of excuse for Akko's suspicious activity.

Sucy plucked the mushroom from the girl's hand and inspected. The small audience only watched in bafflement as Sucy nodded and only offered a small "'Kay," as her only response, collecting a bucket and having Akko dump her collection inside.

Ursula was beyond proud of the steps that Akko has been taking to better herself in her studies and casting magic, but she couldn't deny that the girl still was not able to properly prioritize her responsibilities.

On top of it all, her uniform was filthy. Not only would Akko be most assuredly scolded by the other instructors for her appearance and for nearly breaking curfew, but Ursula had the feeling that she would also be accused of not taking the necessary steps it took to shape Akko into a more proper witch.

It was then that Ursula made the executive decision that more hands-on training needed to be held.

Which brings them to where they are now.

Looking behind her, Ursula couldn't help but smile in amusement at the sight of Akko with a bucket of fish of her own in her grasp, her face contorted into a grimace at the stench, looking as if she were about to lose her lunch at any given moment.

"We're almost there, Akko," her mentor comforted. "You won't even notice the smell anymore after the first few weeks."

Akko almost stopped dead in her tracks.

"Few weeks?" She parroted.

"I believe I informed you of this new arrangement yesterday."

Akko most definitely remembered. She just didn't want to fully believe it.

"It's just that the last time I saw Arcas, he looked pretty interested in turning me and Andrew into bear-chow."

Ursula let out a small laugh, her eyes closed as they made their way closer to the entrance of the Fountain of Polaris. "Well, think of this assignment as a way for you two to get better acquainted."

The brunette found herself unable to take solace in her mentor's words.

Before they knew it, they had reached the entrance to the ancient facility. Ursula opened the door, ushering Akko inside so she was the first to enter. When Ursula closed the door, she noticed the nervous girl, more particularly in how she was shaking like a leaf.

Ursula's heart ached with a pang of guilt. She came up behind her student and rested a hand on her shoulder. She illuminated the dimly lit hall so Akko could see the reassuring smile she did her best to display. "You haven't anything to worry about. Arcas has been my companion for nearly as long as I can remember. He only ran after you two because he was startled. He's a kind creature and would never harm anyone."

"If he wouldn't harm anyone, why is he guarding this place?" Akko silently murmured to herself.

Rounding multiple corners, they finally found the large polar bear, curled up and resting in the corner of the large room, his back slowly rising and falling in a steady, peaceful rhythm.

Akko gulped.

To the young girl's gratitude, Ursula was the first to step forward, bucket of fish still in hand and her wand poised in the other.

"Good morning, Arcas." She gently cooed, making her way up to the sleeping giant. Ever so gently, Ursula set the bucket down and placed her hand against his back, rubbing it in a methodical pattern. The bear stirred in his sleep before lifting his head, eyes still weary and his movements still sluggish.

As soon as his eyes fell onto Ursula, he brought his snout closer, taking in her familiar scent.

Uncurling from his slumbering form, Arcas stood and turned to fully face Ursula, nuzzling her side and face with a series of groans and whines. Ursula patted her companion's face and laughed.

Had this bear not have chased Akko and Andrew down these very halls and slightly scarred her for a good while, her heart would've melted at the very sight. But due to her decreasing abilities to hold grudges for a long period of time, her heart melted at the very sight.

Once Ursula managed to break out of Arcas's embrace, she pointed her wand to the bucket she had set down.

" _Amirae Voltolub_."

Upon command, the bucket glowed a bright green before a single piece of fish levitated out, floating in front of the polar bear. His snout twitching in curiosity, Arcas turned to see the fish floating in front of him. Rather than being startled, the bear simply bit down on the meal and swallowed it whole.

Ursula repeated the process until her bucket was empty. With one last rub underneath his jaw, Ursula turned back to Akko.

Akko nervously shuffled her foot against the stone floor, fearing what her teacher was about to say.

"Now it is your turn."

 _Yep. Thought as much._

Akko set down the bucket and grabbed her wand, taking in a deep breath to calm her nerves.

" _Amir_ -"

"Come closer."

 _Damn_.

She lifted the bucket with her free hand and made her way over to the polar bear . . . slowly.

Once the brunette thought she had come close enough, she set the foul smelling bucket back down, looking to Ursula for encouragement. She offered a small nod before she looked back at Arcas.

"Look Arcas, it looks like Akko also has some treats for you." She diverted the bear's attention to the young girl, shaking harder than before.

 _Double damn_.

"Breathe, Akko. Keep your mind calm and your intentions clear."

Akko did her best to heed her teacher's advice, but found it difficult when the bus-sized animal appeared to be eyeing her up and down, sniffing her all the while.

She took multiple breaths in vain efforts to calm her racing heart and buzzing mind as the bear drew closer. Though it was challenging, Akko reviewed the steps in her head.

 _What are my intentions? To feed this thing. I've heard both Professor Ursula and Diana use this same spell before, so the pronunciation shouldn't be an issue . . ._

 _Here goes something._

Steeling herself and concentrating on nothing but the bucket, pretending as if the polar bear wasn't in the room, Akko pointed her wand.

" _Amirae Voltolub!"_

It felt like an eternity before anything else happened. Akko kept her eyes shut so tightly that she was halfway convinced that Constanze and Croix would have to invent something powerful enough to pry them back open.

But through the blackness of her closed eyes, Akko detected a glowing green aura, the faint smell of fish growing stronger, then the sound of chewing. Akko opened her eyes in time to see Arcas swallow and lick his chops.

She blinked. Then blinked again.

The polar bear looked at her almost expectantly, a soft grunt escaping its nose.

Akko couldn't see it, but Professor Ursula beamed at the connection she could see forming between her student and lifelong pet.

Without thinking twice, Akko swished her wand again.

" _Amirae Voltolub_."

She pronounced the spell calmly, more confident. As expected, another piece of fish floated out from the bucket and in front of the bear's snout. Just like before, he snatched it out of the air and gulped it down. Beady black eyes looked straight into her own, begging for more.

Akko could feel her heart flutter at the endearing sight.

All previous feelings of dread having been all but forgotten, the brunette gladly emptied the contents of the bucket for the giant within a minute. Arcas prodded his nose in her direction, no doubt asking for more. Akko could only smile sadly in reply.

"Sorry baby," she cooed, taking to the same manner of addressing the gentle beast as one would to a lap dog. "I'm all out. Maybe I can sneak some in here later, huh? Would you like that?" Arcas snorted in reply, sending a small flurry of spit along with the unenticing odor of fish over her.

Akko ignored the smell and accepted the reply as a ' _duh'_.

"That won't be necessary," Ursula immediately shot down the idea. "Arcas's metabolism has slowed over the years. I now only need to feed him twice a week. I have sent the request to Professor Holbrooke. She is more than willing to allow you to continue feeding Arcas."

The young girl gasped in delight.

"But remember Akko," Ursula continued, her tone more serious as she stepped closer to her, "this exercise is more than just to build bonds. It's a responsibility that I'm entrusting to you. You will feed him every Tuesday morning, and I will on Saturdays. Do you feel you-"

"Uh huh!" Akko answered before the instructor could even finish her question.

With a heavy heart, Akko finally agreed with Ursula that it was time to go. They shut the door behind them and walked out on the school grounds, leaving the polar bear to resume his guarding duties.

The two of them walked together in silence until they reached the halfway point back to the school entrance. "Arcas is a wonderful creature," Ursula started. "As I'm sure you already know, he has been my friend since childhood. We've played countless times together and, in some ways, he was one of the best teachers I've ever had."

Akko tilted her head, visibly confused by her mentor's meaning.

"It's because of Arcas," she continued, "that I came to understand the root of all magic. We as witches use magic for the betterment of ourselves and the people around us. But it doesn't stop there. Our aim is to create a better world through ways that are not viewed as ordinary to others. We use our skills and talents to help achieve peace throughout the entire world; man and animal and plant alike."

The Yggdrasilians quickly flashed through Akko's mind, but she restrained herself from mentioning them.

"My hope for this exercise is to show you the responsibility that we carry on a consistent basis. Responsibility can be scary," Ursula admitted, "but they also allow us to grow in ways we previously would not have thought possible before . . . which is why I have another request for you."

"Eh?"

 _That afternoon_ ,

The class was silent as they all listened to Professor Finneran's more detailed lesson and analysis of Simon's comet, which was now merely a day away. The students halfway wished for Professor Holbrooke to come barging in and make another comment at how dull her lessons could often times be.

Sadly, they had no such luck.

Once again, it was only Akko and Diana who found themselves the most invested in the lesson, jotting down notes and letting the information soak in. Finneran gestured to a detailed drawing of the comet on the chalkboard, pointing out all comet's characteristics, such as its nucleus, tail of dust, and the cloud of hydrogen that constantly surrounds it.

She also went into further detail of the trajectory of the comet, informing them the precise angle it will be approaching from and for how long it will be visible; all of which Akko transcribed into her notebook so quickly, Lotte and Sucy were almost convinced that they saw smoke rising from the paper.

As soon as Finneran's lecture was complete, she flicked her wand in the direction of an eraser, willing it to float and erase the drawing. As it did so, the strict instructor crossed her arms and addressed her class for a final word before the period's conclusion.

"With the arrival of the comet approaching, we will begin preparations for our viewing party. All of you are expected to attend." The class did its best to bite their tongues as to not let out an audible declaration of indifference. "But we will be in need of a few student volunteers to help set up this event. Responsibilities include going to town and acquiring decorations and snacks, setting up the field in preparation for the viewing, and so on. I will place a signup sheet on the door for those who are interested."

"Please feel free to add me to the list," Diana's hand raised itself in the air. "I will gladly accept any role the faculty sees fit."

"As expected of our top student, thank you Miss Cavendish," Finneran offered her gratitude. "Now, at this time, would anyone else-"

Before she could finish her question, another hand shot up into the air so fast, the students were afraid that it might detach from its owner's body. The owner of the hand, who just so happened to be Akko, raised herself up from her chair as to display her intent to everybody in the room.

"Gimme any job you want! I'm gonna do my best to make sure that everybody gets a fantastic view of that comet if it's the last thing I do!"

Finneran and the class found themselves too stunned to find the proper words to reply to the energetic girl's outburst. The silence filled the room for a longer period of time that any of them would have been comfortable with and was only broken by the shy chuckle of Lotte, who lifted her hand up as well.

"Um, if you do need help, I could do it too. I'm caught up with my homework for the most part."

Knowing she would somehow get dragged into this mess sooner or later, Sucy rolled her eyes before she lethargically raised her hand as well.

"Knowing Akko, she'll probably screw this up badly, no matter how good her intentions are. And I wouldn't miss that for the world," she added that last part under her breath, baring her sharp teeth in amusement.

After a few more moments of stunned silence, Finneran was finally able to find her voice.

"Th-thank you girls. I will have your names written down."

Akko flashed a smile before plopping herself back in her seat, oblivious to the shocked faces of her fellow classmates that surrounded her.

Professor Finneran cleared her throat to recompose herself. "That concludes today's lessons. Remember, extra credit is available to those who can properly identify the anatomical components of Simon's comet after the viewing ceremony."

It wasn't long after she had said the word 'concludes' that all the students decided it was time for them to begin packing their belongings. Finneran raised her voice for her final announcement.

"And be prepared for our next class. We will be reviewing the effects that the full moon has on witch's magic and how to apply it accordingly."

In the midst of the commotion, Finneran was barely able to spot Diana's hand raising itself into the air once more.

"Forgive this one last question, but I was lead to believe that we would be dissecting mandrakes as our next lesson?"

The professor let out an exasperated sigh. "That is correct, Miss Cavendish. However, our mandrake shipment was delayed. They will be arriving later than previously planned."

Diana nodded in understanding. "I see. How most unfortunate."

With that, Diana began collecting her items as well. As the class began to thin out, she noticed Akko and her teammates still conversing amongst themselves, a noticeably excited gleam in the brunette's eye. Diana hadn't been able to pinpoint the exact moment it had happened, but Akko had most definitely been more attentive and involved in her studies. She had a hunch that it was mostly thanks to the extracurricular lessons that had been orchestrated for her by Professor Ursula.

She also noticed how unopposed she felt towards this arrangement. In the past, Diana would have merely tolerated the excitable girl if it meant furthering her education, but this time . . . with Akko as passionate as she was about seeing this comet for the first time in her young life (which still baffled the Cavendish girl), she felt as though actual progress would be made.

And, with Akko's childlike excitement at her side, Diana couldn't attest the fact that she felt the somewhat selfish desire to stay at her side, wanting to feel the same euphoria that she was no doubt feeling.

 _Maybe working together on this would allow me to view the comet from a perspective that I had lost long ago . . ._

Not desiring to waste any more time, Diana packed the last of her items and shuffled between the desks, joining the three girls in their discussion.

 _Later_ ,

The moment after their final classes wrapped up for the day, Akko, Diana, Sucy and Lotte were called into Professor Holbrooke's office to discuss their duties as volunteers for the viewing ceremony taking place tomorrow evening. The four girls-as well as a small handful of others willing to sacrifice their time-stood in the center of the office with every other instructor beside Holbrooke's desk.

Ursula, in an attempt to avoid showing favoritism, did her best to keep her face from beaming too much at the sight of how focused and willing to work Akko was.

Holbrooke calmly relayed their instructions, assigning them into four groups of two as she did so. Diana and Akko were to cover snacks and beverages while Lotte and Sucy found themselves in charge of the decorations.

After reviewing their tasks and handing them spending money, they were sent on their way while the teachers stayed behind as to cover the more intricate details of the ceremony.

Akko, Sucy, Lotte and Diana made their way into town and were quick to disperse, agreeing to meet up again within an hour, deciding that that would leave plenty of time to head back to the school grounds and help set up the field for the actual viewing of the comet.

Sucy, with a paper bag in each hand, trudged alongside Lotte, who was muttering quietly to herself as she flipped through pages of her notebook, trying to see if they had forgotten any items on their list.

The pink haired witch couldn't help but let out a weak sigh.

"This was way more boring than I had thought . . . Akko should've found some way to mess this up by now."

Lotte closed her notebook.

"That just goes to show you how seriously she's taking this. She hasn't been this invested in something since last year when she was reviving the words. I'm still pretty jealous that Akko gets to see the comet for the first time."

"I don't get what we're buying this stuff for either. The school is putting in a lot of time and effort into viewing something that's only going to be visible for just under a minute." She sniffed. "Seems like a waste of money."

"Don't look at it that way," Lotte lightly chastised. "This is a big moment for Akko. Instead, try seeing it as if we're doing our part to make it more magical!"

This did little to impress the mushroom obsessed teen.

As they made their way back to the rendezvous point-which was a park bench that overlooked the commercial district of the neighboring town-Sucy noticed that neither Akko nor Diana were to be found yet.

"Strange," thought Lotte. "I thought for sure that they would have beaten us."

As if on cue, the clicking sound of shoes against the sidewalk diverted their attention to Diana, who held three neatly wrapped boxes of pastries, cupcakes, and other finely baked goods stacked in her arms. Once she was close enough, Diana set the boxes down carefully on the bench, bowing her head politely to the two girls.

"I hope I did not keep you waiting."

Lotte waved her arms, her eyes shut bashfully. "No, we just got here. No need to worry."

"You're short one person, though," Sucy was quick to observe.

Diana nodded. "Yes. Shortly after our departure, Akko claimed she had other food items in mind. She and I went separate ways as well. Although, I had assumed she would have made her way back here by now . . ."

"Akko all alone in a small town? That can only end in disaster," Sucy snickered.

Before either of the girls could make a defense in Akko's name, they were interrupted by a series of mumbles and curses, accompanied by the crinkling of multiple plastic bags.

Turning their heads, the small group found their culprit in the form of Akko, looking as if she were trying to be a big girl for her parents and carry in the groceries all in one go. Hanging from her shoulders, both forearms, gripped tightly in both fists, and even one dangling precariously from her teeth, Akko had a surplus of bags that were filled to the brim with an assortment of fruits.

The three other students were too flabbergasted from the sight that none of them had made an effort to assist the struggling brunette.

Her muscles aching and her jaw growing tired, Akko only barely made it to the bench, setting her contents down on it with a breath of relief, holding the edges up as to not let the contents spill out onto the streets.

Sucy was the first to break the stunned silence.

"Leave it to Akko to turn into a living breathing math problem."

Showing no sign that Akko had heard the comment, the girl was instead more focused on resting her sore muscles and catching her breath, her hands propped on her knees to steady herself.

"Don't hunch your body over in that manner. Your posture is preventing you from taking in the necessary amount of air for each breath," Diana advised.

Akko merely continued to pant.

After she had refilled her lungs, she stood up, arms stretched up in the air as if she had just woken up from a nap.

"So, um," Lotte started, unsure of how to phrase her inquiry. "What is it you're planning to do with all of this fruit, Akko?"

The moment her stretching was complete, Akko grinned at her friend, acting as if she hadn't just performed a strenuous exercise. "I got this great idea!" To showcase her plan, she opened one of the bags, displaying the assortment of apples, pears, grapes and oranges that were crammed inside. "I'm going to ask the cooks if it would be ok to borrow the fancy pudding cups for it, but picture this!"

Her hands were held out in front of her, her thumbs and forefingers forming a rectangle as if she were a director visualizing how she were about to shoot the next scene.

"The comet comes once every three years, right? So in each cup will be three slices of apples, three pear chunks, three orange wedges, and three tiny grape vines, all of them forming a circle to look like the comet!"

"But why fruit?" Sucy nasally prodded.

"To represent the fruitful knowledge that the comet provided us, of course!"

The moment after she concluded her explanation, her face fell into a look of utter mortification. "Shoot! I forgot to buy peanut butter for the dip! You guys think the cooks will mind if we used the peanut butter for this? Nah, they wouldn't care. It's there to be used after all!"

Once again, the small group was stunned to silence.

They all knew how important this was for Akko, but they had no idea it ran as deeply as it did.

"Seems like a lot of work . . ." Sucy grimaced at the extra effort that the excited brunette was no doubt going to force her to contribute.

"Which will only make tomorrow evening all the more memorable," Diana remarked. "I will assist you in creating the fruit cups tonight."

She couldn't hold back anymore. Akko could only barely contain her muffled squeal of delight as she threw her arms around a shocked Diana's torso, hugging her as tightly as she could. "I knew you were as excited for this as I am!"

"C-careful, Akko!"

Diana's flailing arms nudged a bag, shifting the contents inside and spilling a few pieces of fruit out. Before they could hit the ground, Lotte took out her wand and caught them with. With her steady hand, she magically placed the fallen fruits back into their bag.

She wiped her brow and let out a breath of relief.

It wasn't long after that that Akko (totally oblivious to the incident she had caused) released Diana's midsection and gave an affirming nod to no one in particular.

"Ok, troops! We've got what we came for. It's now Luna Nova or bust!"

In her fit of energy, Akko hastily yanked the bags from their resting spot on the bench, sending a small torrent of fruit to the ground. The brunette, somehow oblivious to this fact, simply hummed happily to herself and resumed walking.

 _That evening_ ,

Akko was starting to get used to the earthy smell that the tunnels provided as she strolled her way down to ground zero, two bag-fulls of fruit clutched in her fists.

With a small spring in her step, she hummed a familiar tune as she rounded the last corner, leading her to the community of Yggdrasilians. Said creatures were currently mingling about, going about their own daily list of chores when they each sensed Akko's presence.

She offered them a toothy grin as she entered the anteroom and set down her groceries.

"I'm back!" She declared, causing the select few of Yiggins who didn't notice her to jump in surprise.

Tilly was the first to greet her, coming up to her feet and bowing his leafy head in acknowledgement before going up onto his tiptoes and peeking inside of one of the bags that Akko had brought with her like a toddler trying to peek over a countertop that was too tall for it.

It took all of Akko's willpower to not coo in adoration at the sight.

Tilly's beady eyes glanced up at Akko in curiosity. Before he could question her, she beat him to the punch.

"It's for the other day with the animals," she rubbed her elbow bashfully. "I feel sorta responsible for it. Hopefully this'll cover whatever they took!"

Without waiting for any permission, Akko lifted the bags and made her way to the silo. When she noticed all eyes were now on her, she waved them off politely. "No need to help! I remember how this worked! Just do what you were doing before I got here," she instructed as she set down the bags next to the sloppily repaired silo, taking her wand out of its sheath.

Flicking her wrist, the domed top levitated off with relative ease, floating in the air seemingly by its own accord. Nodding in satisfaction, the eager-to-help brunette hugged the first bag in both arms, hoisted it above her head and poured its contents into the top.

The audience of Yiggins blinked in curiosity as Akko lifted the second bag over her head and emptied it inside the silo as well. They could hear the dull thumps and thuds of the donated fruit clash against each other inside. But if they were concerned with the wellbeing of the fruit, they didn't show it.

After the final orange fell, Akko let out a strained breath and lowered herself from her tiptoes, balling the bags together and shoved them in her pocket (dropping plastic on the ground in front of a race of creatures who are the literal embodiment of a tree seemed pretty rude in her mind).

Before she could ask what else there was that needed to be done, a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention.

She jumped in shock when she realized that it was the dome to the silo still hovering in midair, waiting patiently to be put back in its place.

Fumbling with her wand as she took it out of its resting place, Akko hastily pointed the wand at the dome and willed it to float back to the top of the silo, resting – albeit even more lopsided than before – atop its perch, keeping the Yggdrasilian's food supply safe from any furry thieves.

Akko let out a breath and sheathed her wand in satisfaction, rubbing her hands together before crossing her arms. "That should be more than enough for this season. Don't be afraid to let me know if those animals try to break back in here," she instructed, waving her finger and speaking in a reassuring tone as if she were consoling a child who was being bullied in school.

After a brief moment of silence, Tilly finally spoke up.

"We greatly appreciate your act, Miss Akko. I hope that it wasn't too out of your own way."

"Not at all!" Akko dismissed. "You know the comet that's coming up? We're holding a viewing ceremony for it and me and my friends were in charge of snacks. I managed to sneak these away without anybody noticing," she proudly cleared up, winking all the while. "I won't tell if you won't tell."

Tilly smiled. "Your secret is safe with us. And speaking of the comet . . ." the lead Yiggin trailed off. Akko waited with baited breath for him to finish his sentence. "Well, I'd hate to take advantage of your acts of kindness-"

"Well don't," she said simply. "That's why I'm here, remember?"

Tilly nodded. "And you will be repaid in due time. We promise. But, we are in need of another favor."

 _Later_ ,

Beads of sweat formed on her brow as her heart beat rapidly in her chest from her strained efforts. Her slick palms made it difficult to grip the boulder as she rolled it through the ex-route system.

Grunting through her teeth, Akko mentally chastised herself for her recent pushover attitude.

 _I know that I said I'm here to help . . . but a hand would be appreciated here!_

With more grunts and sweat now trailing down the side of her face, Akko finally emerged from the tunnel with the requested object: a large emerald-colored boulder that was about the size of a lay-z-boy.

After she emerged from the tunnel with the requested cargo, two lines of Yiggins were formed, creating a lane for Akko to travel through, leading to a clear patch of dirt which Akko was guessing was the spot they needed it moved to.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Akko pushed the boulder with labored breaths down the aisle. With one final push, the boulder rolled itself into place as if an invisible force had beckoned it forwards. Taken by surprise by the sudden motion, Akko windmilled her arms and caught her balance. She then watched with wide eyes as the large stone fastened itself into the dirt like a dog going in circles before going to bed, a furrow of soil being formed around the circumference of it.

A moment later, the boulder began to slowly pulsate a green glow akin to the aura that the wands at Luna Nova emit when being used.

Tilly walked up beside it and nodded in approval.

"Much appreciated, Miss Akko."

She wiped the sweat off her brow in response.

"S . . . so," she panted, "You never . . . did . . . say what this thing is for . . ."

"Think of this stone as a battery, Miss Akko," Tilly advised. "As stated before, we only have a limited amount of magic to use until our physical bodies can no longer support us. Every three years with the comet's arrival, the magic emanating from it recharges it, refreshing our abilities."

The brunette nodded in understanding before her brow furrowed in confusion.

She eyed the large battery almost skeptically.

"Soooo, if this is supposed to help with your magic, then why do you move it?"

"This spot is, as we've noticed, the most detrimental. It is able to collect the most amount of-"

"No, no, no, no," Akko interrupted. "I mean why do you guys put it away all the time if you just need to take it back out again?"

Tilly looked taken aback, looking from the girl to the stone, then back and forth once more.

"It takes up so much space. Storing it away is the most effective way of fully utilizing our underground home."

Akko harrumphed under her breath.

 _What a surprisingly lazy reason . . ._

"But all the same," Tilly digressed, "your efforts will make this year's comet one for the ages."

"How so?" Akko's head tilted in curiosity.

"In the days after Yggdrasil faded away and our species was born, witches have found new ways to draw their magic. But, from what we've observed, it isn't nearly as plentiful nor as powerful as it once was. Some witches have even attained peace with that knowledge. But come tomorrow," Tilly touched the stone, "our magic will be recharged. And you will be repaid, Miss Akko, in ways you can't even begin to imagine."

The brunette's eyes widened.

"With our guidance and your willingness to help everyone in need, we will create a better world for magic, like how it once was all those years ago. And you will be the first to master everything there is to know. Your name will be recognized all around the world . . ." the Yiggin smirked knowingly. "Just like Shiny Chariot."

Words weren't enough to describe how close Akko's heart came to exploding from pure joy and anticipation. Her mind, meanwhile, began conjuring up fantasies of her wowing and astounding audiences young and old with magic that had long since been extinct.

That comet couldn't come soon enough.

It wasn't long after that when Tilly had dismissed Akko, wanting her to rest up and be as ready as possible for the comet's arrival. The Yiggin even gave Akko tomorrow evening off so the aspiring witch could fully enjoy the show.

After a walk through the forest and meeting up with her friends for dinner, Akko finally broke free and made her way back to her dorm room, changed into her pajamas and literally jumped into her bunk headfirst.

Saying a quick, thankful prayer, Akko finally closed her eyes, but found it too difficult to fall asleep with her mind so excited for the comet tomorrow.


	6. The Part When the Comet Arrives

In contrast to a vast majority of the other students at Luna Nova, Lotte was a fairly good morning person. She considered every morning an empty canvas that was waiting to be painted on. But that was only the case when she wakes up on her own.

Unlike this morning.

Rather than the calming sound of the wind whistling past the window or the charming beams of light that showered into their room to ease her out of her slumber, she was jolted awake by what sounded like five hammers being pounded on the floor simultaneously.

Her sleep having officially been stolen with no hope of being returned until the end of the day, she stirred under her covers and reached for her glasses.

As soon as the dreariness had subsided, she was met with the sight of Akko, in her white tee shirt and red shorts, dancing like a lunatic in the middle of their dorm room.

Had Lotte not have been able to feel the vibrations from the impact of Akko's feet, the blonde would have been willing to bet that she had been dreaming. Akko never was up this early. And she would never, _ever_ be this happy about it.

It took a moment longer for Lotte to come to the only logical conclusion as to what has Akko out of bed this early.

Lotte blinked the remaining sleep out of her eyes and smiled down at her friend from her bunk. "Excited for tonight, Akko?"

"You bet!" Akko replied almost instantly, not breaking her stride in the slightest.

The blonde was starting to fear that her roommate's antics would disturb neighboring students from their sleep. But before she could attempt to calm Akko, the brunette had already turned her attention to the still-sleeping form of Sucy, whose back was turned to the other girls and shoulder rising and falling in slow beats.

"Sucy!"

Throwing all caution to the wind, the excited witch threw herself forward with her arms outstretched in Sucy's direction.

Lotte hissed audibly through her teeth when Sucy immediately sat upright, showing no sign of having been asleep just two seconds ago, and watched with an unamused frown as the brunette flew face first into the wall.

Sucy merely snorted and removed her covers, stepping out of bed while mumbling something about how her next potion would be more painful than anything she had experienced in her life. The blonde made a mental note to prevent her pink-haired roommate from experimenting on their friend in the near future.

But she couldn't possibly be upset at Akko for waking her up this morning. Her energy was too infectious.

"You know, if you went back to sleep, the evening would get here faster," Sucy drawled as she slipped into a small corner to change.

Akko backed away from the wall and rubbed her nose, her smile never once faltering.

"I can't even think about sleeping! I still can't believe that I'm finally going to see Simon's Comet tonight!"

"I'm not sure you're aware of how many opportunities you've had to do so while you were growing up," came Sucy's nasally voice, muddled from the fabric of her robe as she slipped it over her face.

"Twice," Akko elaborated.

"I hope that it's everything you want it to be, Akko!" Lotte brightly encouraged as she made her way down the ladder, taking a spot next to her best friend. But before she could get another word in, Akko had already thrown her arms around the blonde, squeezing so tight that the girl was afraid of her eyeballs popping out of their sockets. Tears of joy were cascading down Akko's face akin to the time after their sacrifice ritual last year, accompanied with her incoherent babble and snot trail.

It took longer than they were comfortable with to settle the girl down, get her changed into her school uniform and convince her that the sooner they got done with their classes, the sooner they could get to see the comet.

Akko finally relented and did as they bid.

From what the brunette had noticed, molasses traveling uphill with a high industrial warehouse fan blowing down on it would have traveled faster than the duration of each class.

First up was magical history class.

The young witch was very disappointed to see that no more lessons were going to involve Simon's Comet, due to them already covering the subject. Rather, the class was focused on the history and discovery of Yggdrasil itself.

It took every ounce of self-control that Akko possessed to not expose the community's existence.

Rather, she bit her lip and suffered through the antagonizingly boring lecture for the duration of class . . .

Which only led to the next antagonizingly boring lecture in the next class.

And the one after that, followed finally by the final class of the day, which just so happened to be taught by Professor Ursula.

Despite currently being under the tutelage of her favorite professor and childhood icon – who did her best to make sure that Akko was truly paying attention and not daydreaming of the upcoming evening event that she knows she has been absolutely pining to experience – Akko couldn't help but daydream about the upcoming evening event that she has been absolutely pining to experience.

Her mind kept coming up with various images as to what it may actually look like.

Sure, she's seen the odd sketch here and there, including her Shiny Chariot collector's card and the detailed depiction that Finneran had drawn on the board yesterday, but those surely wouldn't be able to do any justice when compared to the real deal, Akko thought.

 _I wonder how long the tail really is._

 _Should I get a picture of it?_

 _No, no, no. That would ruin the magic._

Her mind traveled farther and farther away from reality as it came up with more and more fantastical images of the comet. She only snapped out of her reverie when she realized that the entire room had gone silent.

Blinking herself back into consciousness, Akko looked left and right to find that the entire class had their noses dug into their notebooks, pens and quills scribbling in a symphony of scratches.

Looking forward, Akko found Professor Ursula's gaze solely on her, her mouth in a straight line, but her eyes showed signs of mild amusement.

The professor nodded to the side, diverting Akko's attention to the assignment that had been written on the board minutes ago.

Slumping her shoulders timidly, Akko clumsily grabbed her pen and dug out her notebook from the confines of her bag, beginning the assignment on the first blank page she found.

After the period had wrapped up, Professor Ursula dismissed the class while instructing them that whatever questions they hadn't answered in class was now homework for next time.

They paid her little mind as they all packed their bags and flooded out the doorway. Akko gave an enthusiastic wave goodbye before she vanished behind the door.

With the final class done with, Ursula let out an exhausted sigh as she filed her papers together into her binder.

Five hours remained until the ceremony started, and another half hour after that until the comet actually arrived, giving the young instructor plenty of time to complete her patrolling duties.

With the faculty in a mad dash to make sure that everything was set up accordingly for the evening, Ursula was actually relieved she had been given this task. It allowed her to breathe and meander the halls at her own leisurely pace, enjoying the peaceful weather that they had been given for today.

 _More than a few of my comet sightings have been blocked out by the clouds. Thank goodness that Akko gets to have such perfect weather for her first._

Passing by a cluster of girls who were laughing amongst themselves, Ursula patrolled by the cafeteria, where she found the workers doing their best to prepare today's meal while avoiding the multiple tray-fulls of used pudding cups which were filled to the brim with different chunks of fruit.

They all grumbled to one another, sharing in their misery over having their space used up and unanimously agreed that the next time that girl asked if she could use their stuff, it would be a no with zero questions asked.

She was only lucky that Diana happened to be with her to help. They weren't entirely sure the faculty would allow them to say no to their top student.

Despite feeling a pang of sympathy for the food preparation staff, she couldn't help but let out a small breath of laughter at their expense, praying that they hadn't heard her.

Before she could find out, she kept along her route, which took her to the school grounds.

It wasn't long after she made her way outside that she heard the familiar cries of frustration, joy and excitement of Akko.

Ursula wasn't too surprised to find her pupil passing the time with her closest friends.

Akko was currently straddling her broom and lifting herself higher and higher into the air until she was level with Amanda, who in turn lifted herself even higher, giving Akko goals to achieve.

The remainder of the group were on the ground.

Diana, as one would expect, had her focus set on a textbook that sat on the blanket she was sitting on. Also sitting on the blanket was Lotte, who was reading the latest edition of her favorite novel series while also sparing glances upwards to make sure her friend was ok.

Sucy was standing to the side with a video camera lifted upwards, her eye pressed into the view finder. Ursula quickly came to the conclusion that she was anxiously awaiting the moment Akko made a mistake and fall off her broom.

Constanze paid none of them any mind as she tinkered on another experiment of hers while Jasminka sat cross-legged next to her, munching on pretzels and holding a water bottle in her free hand.

All eyes went up to Akko after the girl let out a squeak of alarm.

They all saw her hands flail to the sides of her to keep her balance. Sucy bared her teeth in an expectant smile as she zoomed in closer.

To everyone's relief (save for Sucy's), Akko steadied herself and gripped the broom once again, pleased over the fact that it seemed as though she hadn't lost any altitude.

"Remember not to think about it too much, Akko!" Lotte advised her.

"She is correct," Diana agreed, her soft voice still carrying itself to Akko's ears despite the difference in altitude. "Don't think of this outing as a strenuous exercise, but rather do your best to feel as though you and the broom are a single-"

"I think I got it!"

Diana let out a small breath of irritation over the interruption, but quickly forgot it when she witnessed Akko raised herself higher with not as much effort as the past few times.

Ursula could almost feel the joy that radiated off of Akko's face as she raised herself up and lowered herself down like an out of whack elevator.

While she wanted to witness whatever progress Akko may achieve next, Ursula tore herself away from the scene and continued her patrol.

She hit her usual spots: the Fountain of Polaris (saying hello to Arcas all the while), the Sorcerer's Stone at the top of Luna Tower, and eventually, she made her way to the archives. Her high heels clicked against the floor with each step, the echo reverberating off of the walls of the near-barren room.

Her eyes scanned the cavities that rested in the massive pillar in the center of the room up and down as she walked around the room, glad to see that they were all occupied with the magical items that were there the last time she had checked.

She walked and looked and walked and looked, her heels never once staying silent as she swept the room.

 _Click._

 _Click._

 _Click._

The only thing that stopped her sweep was when her eyes landed on . . . _that_ shelf.

She couldn't see the three items from the angle she was at, but she knew they were there.

Her mind went back a few days to when Akko hit her head after her broom incident. Amanda's words about Akko claiming to have seen a small walking tree bounced around in her head.

 _It couldn't be them . . ._

 _Could it?_

 _ **Much, much earlier,**_

" _Whoo! Alright, we've got a four day weekend, I've got cold hard cash that is going to light a hole in my pocket very soon, and by the looks of it, I've also got one best friend who is in need of a few bowls of ramen and three lattes. I elect that we go into town right at this very moment!"_

 _Chariot's march forward was halted when she realized that she wasn't being followed._

 _Whipping her head around, she found the girl in question walking at a far more leisurely pace than what the redhead was willing to put up with on a picture perfect sunny day, her nose buried in some boring tech book all the while._

 _She huffed and stomped her foot._

" _Croix! Didn't you hear me? A four day weekend!" Chariot made her way back to her friend and lowered the book, causing Croix to jump in slight surprise. "This is not a time to be reading books! Come on, let's go to town!" She repeated, hoping to elicit some sort of reaction out of her friend this time._

 _The only thing she got was a head shake and a sigh, an amused smile was on her face nonetheless._

" _Gather 'round everyone, young and old," Croix drawled. "Witness Chariot the Magnificent, Procrastinator Supreme! There's no assignment she can't push aside until the last moment."_

 _Chariot only blew a raspberry in reply, waving off the faux introduction._

" _Seriously Chariot, you're literally ten steps out the door and you're already-"_

" _Finals are coming up and you and I worked our butts off studying for them," Chariot interrupted. "We deserve some time to relax! Not every waking moment of every day is meant to be spent studying. I think we'd actually end up getting dumber that way."_

 _A thoughtful look passed over Croix's face for a moment. "You know," she started, "for someone who wants to entertain the world with her awe-inspiring magic, you really don't have the right motivation to learn the . . . you know, actual magic for it."_

 _Chariot was going to set a world record for the amount of times one can wave their hand dismissively in front of Croix's face in a single day._

" _We've got the rest of our lives for it too! C'mooooooon. Let's at least go to the coffee shop. We'll be able to study better if our heads are clear."_

 _It didn't take much longer for Croix to realize that there was no way that she wasn't going to be accompanying her friend into town. Rather than prolonging it any further, the lilac haired girl relented and the two of them began the trek into the neighboring town._

 _By the time the two of them got there, Croix had admittedly worked up a craving for her favorite espresso. The two girls ordered their drinks and took a seat in a vacant booth, immediately getting lost in each other's company, conversing and laughing and sharing stories of classes that one is in that the other is not._

 _After the bill was paid, the two friends left and continued to walk along the sidewalk, not wanting yet to journey back to school._

 _At least until Croix, out of the blue, took in a sharp intake of air in shock, declaring that she had 'absolutely forgotten that she had left some doohickey thingamajig plugged in and had to go unplug it before a teacher found it' . . . at least that's how Chariot's mind paraphrased it._

 _Before she could say otherwise, Chariot watched the retreating form of her panicked friend vanish around a corner, leaving her alone on the sidewalk._

 _Chariot snorted. "That's cool, I guess."_

 _Her mind instantly did its best to distract the girl from her growing sense of loneliness by having her eyes wander the sky above her. When they found nothing interesting worth noting, Chariot absentmindedly kicked an innocent rock that just so happened to be sitting in her path._

 _It clacked against the cement, a welcome sound in contrast to the lack of company she was experiencing._

 _She took a few more steps forward and kicked the rock again._

 _And again._

 _She kept on kicking the defenseless stone until it turned into a solo session of soccer._

 _Angling her toes down, she scooped it up and had it rest on the top of her foot like a hacky sack. She kept her balance on one foot for a moment, hands out to the side. The aspiring entertainer looked around, and suddenly, she wasn't standing alone on a sidewalk._

 _She was onstage with three sets of spotlights engulfing her. Rows upon rows of seats were filled with an eager audience, starving for spectacle._

 _A smirk crawled on her lips._

 _With a flick of her ankle, she volleyed the rock over her head, added a twirl for extra flare for her invisible audience, unsheathed her wand and took aim at the now plummeting stone._

" _Metamorphie Faciesse!"_

 _To her immediate excitement (and relief, admittedly), the rock vanished in a flash of light and a puff of smoke. Her eyes went wide as the smoke was pushed away by the beating wings of a magenta butterfly, fluttering through the air without a care in the world._

 _Her ears rang from the deafening roar and applause of her imaginary fans._

 _Shrugging, Chariot decided to give the people what they wanted._

" _Metamorphie Faciesse!"_

 _Another small flash of light and another puff of smoke revealed a black capped chickadee, flapping its wings faster than Chariot could keep up with._

 _The bird flew to the side, then out onto the road all the way to the other sidewalk._

 _Panicked, Chariot swished her wand aimlessly to the side and recited the spell._

" _Metamorphie Faciesse!"_

 _To her surprise, the spell found its mark, even from this distance. The bird vanished in the same puff of smoke . . . and a red squirrel fell right in front of the feet of an unsuspecting pedestrian carrying a paper bag full of groceries._

 _The shopper shrieked in surprise, clutching the bag closer to herself protectively as the squirrel danced around her feet. Chariot could feel her fake audience dissipate faster than she could blink._

 _Her heart told her to help the poor woman, but her instincts kicked in immediately and she could feel her feet carrying her away from the scene._

 _Dashing behind the closest available building, Chariot panted as she came to a stop in a forest clearing not far from the town she had just fled from._

 _Hands on her knees to support herself as she refilled her lungs with air, Chariot looked behind her, but thankfully found no irate pedestrian hot on her tail. With one final breath in, she let it out in one slow exhale._

 _Thinking it best that Croix didn't find out about this incident, Chariot straightened herself out, dusted off her uniform, and jumped at the sudden shift in movement in front of her feet._

 _There weren't very many things in life that Chariot du Nord was positive about in this crazy life of hers, but she was immensely positive that the tiny bush that barely reached her shins just blinked._

 _ **Later**_ _,_

 _There were still many things that Chariot du Nord was unsure about in this crazy life of hers, but there was no mistaking what it was that she had just stumbled upon:_

 _A civilization of tiny bush creatures were living underneath their feet._

 _The young witch-to-be blinked away only a small percentage of the awe that she was currently experiencing while, at the same time, her mind was trying to come up with some sort of logical reason as to why it was that she decided to follow the small creature into the hole it had presumably came from._

 _That's when she realized that there was no logical reason as to why it was that she decided to follow the small creature into the hole it had presumably came from._

 _Words failed her. She wasn't sure anybody in her situation would be able to even begin to be able to form a complete sentence._

 _Luckily, she didn't have to._

 _Standing within the gathering of bush creatures came a small, yet firm voice._

" _Chariot du Nord."_

 _The girl in question nearly jumped out of her shoes._

 _In that instant, Chariot finally found her voice._

" _Y-you know my name?"_

 _In reply, the creature that the voice belonged to emerged from the crowd, his bushy leaf head bobbing with every step._

" _Chariot Du Nord, age fifteen, attending Luna Nova to achieve your dreams of becoming an entertainer. Likes animals, children laughing, and spending time with friends. Are these accurate summations?"_

 _Officially dumbfounded, Chariot only found herself able to nod, her mouth the slightest bit agape._

 _For some reason, this appeared to please the tiny creature. He blinked, smiled at her, and turned back to his fellow plant life._

" _The intelligence was correct. We have found her!"_

 _Pop!_

 _She flinched as a sudden small explosion popped off in the corner of the strange anteroom, a shower of differently colored leaves, weeds and dandelions floated to the ground around her like confetti. The tiny creatures threw their stubby arms in the air in what appeared to be jubilation as they cheered at the top of their tiny lungs._

 _Chariot unconsciously took a few small steps backwards, unsure of what it was she was supposed to make of what was happening._

 _The lead bush creature managed to silence his celebrating brethren with a few slow motions of his arms. As soon as the underground room was quiet once more, their leader turned his attention back to the witch._

 _Having all but forgotten the impromptu celebration just moments ago, the leader smiled at Chariot._

" _It was predicted that you would be confused by these events. Is this true?"_

 _Another nod._

" _Fair enough. This is truly a lot to take in. But Miss du Nord, we promise you, a lifetime of fame is not far from your reach."_

 _ **The next day**_ _,_

 _Croix was hardly ever surprised by anything that Chariot ever did anymore. The girl had done just about everything there is in the book to get herself into trouble with the teachers, which included turning her assignments in late, copying her homework, staying out past curfew, performing spells which weren't permitted by the faculty, and even trying to teach a raccoon how to ride a broom (the scratches were still healing on Croix's arm)._

 _However, for as many times that her friend had gotten herself into trouble, she had also managed to keep a small handful of her petty crimes under the radar, such as smuggling a few weeks' worth of pudding underneath her bed._

 _But this . . . this was a new one._

" _Whatcha got there?"_

 _Chariot froze in place, her arms growing tired as she held onto the bulky paper bag. She silently cursed herself for waking her roommate at the late hour, hoping to at least sneak out of her dorm scot-free._

 _Sadly, Lady Luck appeared to take great pleasure in denying her of such a request._

 _She shifted her grip, keeping an apple from falling to the floor._

 _Her eyes looked left, then right, then to her friend. "Some fruit."_

" _Uh huh," Croix nodded, sitting up in her bed still underneath the covers. "And what are you doing with all of that fruit?"_

 _Chariot's grip shifted again. "Would you believe that I'm going to plant a few trees with the seeds from these?"_

 _Croix shook her head._

" _What about me going to donate these to the less fortunate?"_

 _Another shake of her head displayed her skepticism._

 _Chariot's nose scrunched up in thought._

" _Well, what if I tell you that the sooner I get out of here, the sooner you get to sleep?" She smiled innocently and fluttered her eyelashes for additional flare._

 _Croix shrugged in reply. "You're just lucky I don't really care that much about it anyways. Just don't get caught again. I'm tired of letting you copy my notes over how many times you get yourself suspended."_

 _With that, Croix laid herself back down, falling back to sleep._

 _Chariot thanked her lucky stars that she happened to have a very understanding roommate._

 _Shifting her grip on the bag again, the redhead struggled to open the door and closing it as silently as possible with her hands full._

 _While she wasn't overly proud to admit it, Chariot did know her way around the school when it came to sneaking out. Within a few minutes, she found herself out in the open night air, making fairly good time over into town._

 _Making her way over to the familiar garden patch behind the coffee shop, Chariot set down the bag of apples, allowing her arms to recover from the growing fatigue before she grabbed hold of the faux bush and lifted it up, revealing the entrance to the Yggdrasilian's home. Before long, she entered the anteroom with an armful of apples and pears._

 _She was greeted with an assortment of smiles and thanks._

 _Chariot smiled back and waved off their gratitude. "It's nothing. Really, it's nothing."_

 _Setting the bag down, she allowed the Yiggins to tear open the bag, its contents spilling all over the dirt ground and letting them take them in their stubby arms, either nibbling on them or taking them to a specially dug hole in the ground, storing them in there to be eaten later._

 _Chariot took extra care as to not squeak in adoration at the sight of them 'eating' the fruit, as their toothless mouths merely nibbled at them like a puppy gnawing on a stuffed toy. She didn't think a dignified race of trees descended from the birth of magic itself would appreciate that very much._

 _Before she could even think of doing so however, their leader approached and stopped right in front of her feet._

" _Your selflessness is unparalleled, Miss du Nord. Please keep in mind that you will be repaid for all you have done for us."_

 _Chariot beamed at the words, only imagining what kind of spells they would be able to teach her that the teachers couldn't._

 _She was so lost in her reverie that she almost didn't notice when a pair of Yiggins emerged from one of the tunnels, carrying a small jewelry box as if they were moving a bookshelf. The leader nodded to them and raised his hand, gesturing for them to stop where they were. They complied and halted a few paces away from Chariot's feet._

 _As soon as the other Yggdrasilians were finished clearing out the remaining pieces of fruit, the leader looked up at Chariot with a kind, genuinely warm smile._

" _As I'm sure you're aware, Simon's Comet passed by not too long ago."_

 _Chariot nodded. "Luna Nova had this big viewing ceremony! They were saying that this was the closest it's been to Earth in over eighty years!"_

" _Then I'm sure you also know that Yggdrasil, back in the silver age of magic, drew in the magic that the comet gave off as a way to recharge its supply." This earned a nod from the witch, recalling that lesson a week ago in class. "As such, we have been, in a way, recharged."_

 _To prove this point, the lead Yiggin turned his back to Chariot and pointed to the ground. Chariot's eyes grew wide as saucers when she saw his stubby arm glow a green aura. A moment later, a small patch of earth began to glow green as well before Chariot's eyes spotted a small system of roots beginning to sprout. Her heart began to race once the roots began to speed up, twisting and combining with one another, a series of cracks and pops was heard all the while._

 _It took less than a minute for a small tree to fully grow, healthy branches sprouting out in every direction and leaves formed in what appeared to be slow motion._

 _Chariot was now officially breathless._

 _The leader's hand stopped glowing as soon as he was pleased with the result, the green aura snuffed out like a light._

 _The lead Yggdrasilian turned back to the stunned student with what appeared to be a fairly smug smile, as if he were waiting for a very, very long time to show off his magic to someone else._

" _That, Miss Du Nord," the Yiggin started, "is only a small taste of what it is that we can teach you."_

 _She still wasn't able to answer. Instead, her feet carried her over to the tree, the look of awe never once leaving her face as her fingers reached up and brushed against the leaves ever so delicately, knowing that if she were to attempt to create something of this magnitude, it would no doubt backfire in some horrific way._

 _Rather than say anything, she chose to simply appreciate the tree, hoping that whatever magic it was that they taught her, she would soon be able to pull off something like this._

 _After a few minutes of doing nothing but appreciating the tree, Chariot finally turned back to the Yiggins, the proud smile still on the leader's face._

" _Believe it or not, you aren't far off from being able to create something like this yourself, Miss Du Nord. We have specifically chosen you because we can feel the abundant potential within you. Like this tree, all it will take is someone to draw it out. But, before we start your lessons, we do have one more favor to ask of you."_

 _It was a miracle that Chariot's head didn't fly off from how fast she nodded._

 _Clearly pleased with the answer, the leader nodded to the two Yggdrasilians who were still holding the jewelry box. On command, the two of them walked forward and set the box down in front of her feet, then almost immediately backed away._

 _Tilting her head in confusion, the witch leaned down and picked it up. It was clear that they had found the box due to pure chance. It must have been abandoned in the forest due to its weathered stated. It otherwise would've been a beautifully crafted box._

 _She unlatched the lid and opened the box. Inside, in lieu of velvet, the box was lined with leaves and weeds, forming a makeshift pillow for the items inside to rest on._

 _It was then that the lead Yggdrasilian explained to Chariot exactly what it was that those three items were._

 _ **Later**_ _,_

 _Almost on pure impulse, Chariot made a beeline out of the tunnel and into the crisp night air, ignoring the stinging in her lungs all the while._

 _Cupped in her hands were the items she snatched away from the jewelry box._

 _There were a few things that were going through her mind as she ran back to the campus:_

 _One of them was her berating herself for having gone along with this for so long._

 _The other was that she couldn't truly believe what it was she was holding . . . and what it was that they had wanted her to do with them._

 _She found that the one thing those two thoughts had in common was how stupid they made her feel._

 _Stupid._

 _Dumb._

 _Ignorant._

 _The three tiny coils bounced around in her cupped grip with every leaping bound she took. She ignored the growing wariness her body was experiencing with every step, knowing that every leap forward brought her closer to home . . ._

 _And farther away from them._

 _Before long, she made it back to campus in the middle of the night, making the loudest ruckus she could possibly make._

 _She gathered an audience of tired faculty fairly quickly, stammering breathlessly about the Yggdrasilians and what it was they wanted her to do, displaying the three wooden coils to all of them._

 _Although skeptical, a few of the teachers volunteered to accompany the panicked student to town to investigate her claims._

 _She led the party into town and behind the coffee shop and removed the fake bush. Her determined look as well as her heart sank away when she found nothing there but grass._

" _No . . . No, no! It was just here!"_

 _Now officially desperate, the young witch got onto her hands and knees, looking for any freshly packed patches of grass that may have been placed in such a short amount of time._

 _She found nothing of the sort._

 _It all appeared as if the lawn had been tended to and well-kept for decades. No sign of any holes in sight._

' _Could they really have covered their tracks that quickly . . ?' She thought to herself._

 _Before she could convince the group of teachers to follow her any further to any other entrances to the tunnels, she could see that their patience had officially run dry._

 _Dismissing her claims as a desperate plea for attention, the faculty practically dragged her back to campus kicking and screaming._

 _It didn't take a rocket scientist to predict the kind of punishment she would most definitely be receiving for this._

 _After a lengthy meeting in the dean's office, she was given two weeks' worth of detention accompanied with a seemingly endless list of cleaning duties._

 _She was dismissed from the office nearly forty-five minutes later, the disappointed and angry stares of the teachers washing all over her like spotlights._

 _Traversing back to her dorm room, she stopped a moment before opening her door, a new thought creeping into her mind._

 _Before she could be found by anybody else, the young witch ran down the hall, down the steps and back into the courtyard, away from any prying eyes._

 _Taking the coils out of her pockets, she tossed them to the ground, drew her wand, and took aim._

" _Murowa!"_

 _A flash of green erupted from her wand and rocketed to the stationary objects on the ground. They bounced a few feet in the air on impact, their tiny forms barely visible in the moonlight. The coils fell back to the ground, not a scratch seen on them._

 _Despite this, she tried again._

" _Murowa! Murowa! Murowa!"_

 _Three blasts came from her wand, but like before, no harm came to them._

 _Exasperated, defeated, and drained of all motivation, her shoulders slumped as she sheathed her wand._

 _She had one last idea, but there was absolutely no guarantee that it would last forever._

 _But she had nowhere else to turn._

 _Chariot scooped up the wooden coils and ran into the building, twisting and turning along with the hallways until she found herself in the archive room._

 _There were very few places in school that was as well protected as this spot right here. She was just thankful that she had a pretty good relationship with the one who guarded this place._

" _I'm gonna need a favor, Arcas."_

 _The adolescent polar bear tilted his head once he heard the request, but obliged anyways. Turning away from Chariot, he went over to one corner of the room, scooped up the enchanted ladder in his maw and brought it back to the girl._

 _She took it from his mouth with a grateful smile before she propped it up against the pillar that dominated the entire room. Reciting the spell, she willed the ladder to lift her up until she found an empty cavity._

 _Once she found one, the ladder came to a stop. Chariot reached into her pockets and fished out the coils, shamefully looking down on them one last time before gently placing them down inside, hoping they would be well protected within the walls of Luna Nova._

 _Presently,_

Ursula wasn't sure how long she had been standing there. She wasn't even sure how long she would have stayed that way if the intercom hadn't startled her out of her one way trip down memory lane.

The feedback echoed off of the walls with alarming force, causing her to cover her ears for a brief moment until it dissipated.

" _All faculty members please report to the courtyard for final preparations_ ," came Holbrooke's kind voice. " _I repeat, all faculty to the courtyard_."

Ursula sighed, sparing one last glance at the cavity that the coils were resting one before turning on her heel and exiting the room, making a mental note to keep an extra watchful eye on them for the time being.

 _Later_ ,

Had her shoes not been tied as tightly as almost humanly possible, Akko was positive they would have fallen off an hour ago due to her unable to keep still for five seconds.

Despite her spending time with her friends almost the moment after classes were dismissed for the day, time still found a way to move unbelievingly slow, as if the universe knew that the upcoming evening would mean the world to Akko and wanted to make her wait for just a little bit longer.

She was sitting on the edge of her bunk, her legs swinging absentmindedly as her gaze was fixed on the window above their work desk. The sky was getting darker and was void of any cloud.

Perfect for anybody's comet viewing needs.

Finally, the intercom buzzed to life, and out came Finneran's strict voice.

" _All students may now report to the courtyard."_

Akko, Lotte and Sucy were currently making their way down the now crowded hallway as quickly as they could (or rather as quickly as Sucy and Lotte could keep up with Akko). When Akko noticed she was leaving her friends in the dust, she stopped where she was and looked back to see the familiar orange and pink heads of hair bobbing through the sea of chattering students.

"If I miss the comet because of you two, I'll never forgive you!" She playfully threatened, though not without a hint of impatience.

As soon as her friends caught up with her, the trio made their way out the door and into the evening air.

Akko tried (but failed) to contain her excitement at the view before her.

Students were making their way to the center of the courtyard like lines of worker ants, filling into the rows of white fold up chairs that inhabited the grounds. To the sides were tables that displayed the pudding cups that contained the fruit chunks that Akko and Diana worked on the previous night.

Two poles were set up with a banner with the comet painted along the length of it strung between them.

All the way at the end was a stage that was no doubt set up for the teachers, a podium set up in the center of it.

The brunette looked up to the sky as if to check if clouds had formed within the past two minutes that would hinder her view.

Thankfully, that didn't appear to be the case.

Akko squeezed her hands into fists and hopped from foot to foot, ignorant to the confused glances she was receiving.

"C'mon! Let's go find Amanda and the others!"

Without waiting for them to respond, Akko took a firm hold of her friends' hands and dragged them into the crowd. As they walked, Akko lifted herself up on her tiptoes to try and find their friends amidst the other students.

"Akko, you shouldn't walk on your tiptoes like that!" Lotte chastised. "It's bad for-whoa!"

Her warning fell on deaf ears as Akko began to charge headlong into the fray, having seemingly found who it was she was looking for.

Lotte and Sucy found themselves being sequestered over to the hors d'oeuvre table, where Amanda, Jasminka and Constanze were. Amanda and Constanze each had one cup of fruit in their hand while Jasminka appeared to be examining the fruit inside, poking at an apple chunk with a toothpick and holding it close to her face.

Shrugging, the pink haired girl deemed it worthy to eat.

Amanda was the first to notice her extended group of friends. "Yo, Akko! We were wondering where you were. Figured there'd be no way you'd miss this." She was forced to take a step back once Akko made her way up to her and brought her face a mere few inches away from her own.

"No chance at all, Amanda! What do you think of the fruit cups? Pretty festive, if I do say so myself," she proudly pointed her thumb at herself.

Amanda shrugged in reply. "They're cool I guess. I think I'm gonna make my way over to those fancy cakes Diana brought though." The jock made her way to the far side of the tables where the decorative boxes sat, Diana distributing the treats on paper plates to the students who requested one.

Jasminka was quick to follow.

Grabbing fruit cups of their own, Akko, Lotte, Sucy, and Constanze followed their friends. Diana smiled kindly when she found her friends approaching.

"I'm pleased you're all here. I've reserved seats so we may all view the comet together. I hope that-" Amanda was quick to interrupt her by reaching forward and plucking a prepared plate of cake from her hands.

She was about to scold Amanda for it, but thought against it in Akko's presence. The last thing she wanted to do was tarnish the girl's night with a petty argument. Instead, she rolled with the punches and plated another few pastries, offering them to her friends.

"I'm glad to see that your previous attitude towards this evening has changed," Diana almost deadpanned.

"Eh, as long as there's sweets like these 'round," she mumbled through her full mouth, then finally swallowing, "spending time outside on a nice night like this isn't so bad. 'Sides, her energy pretty contagious, ya know?" She pointed her thumb over to Akko, who was gesturing wildly with her arms as she talked with the others.

Diana smiled and was quick to agree.

Amidst the chattering students surrounding them, and along with the conversation that they themselves had started up, the girls had failed to notice that the front stage was now occupied by the teachers. Holbrooke stood on top of the step behind the podium so her small form could reach the microphone on top of it.

Giving it a few taps, the eldest professor cleared her throat.

"Now, if I could have your attention," her soft voice echoed through the night. A few moments later, the chit chat had died down and all eyes were facing the stage, a spotlight shining down on Holbrooke all the while.

She cleared her throat once again before continuing. "Speaking on behalf of the Luna Nova faculty, we thank you for celebrating this night with us tonight. It demonstrates your commitment to our beliefs, your studies, and to preserving the witch tradition." She politely clapped her hands and the teachers lined up behind her followed suit.

Akko's face lit up once she found Ursula smiling down on her as she clapped. She waved excitedly to her mentor before sending up her own round of applause as well, prompting Lotte, Sucy, Diana and the others to follow suit.

It was exactly as they had predicted.

Akko's childlike enthusiasm for tonight was officially beginning to rub off on them. They had found themselves to the point where even they were beginning to look forward to viewing the comet despite having seen it before.

She was like a child on Christmas, whose vibrant passion for the holiday hadn't been snuffed out just yet like the majority of other adults.

After another speech from Finneran (which nearly bored Amanda to the point of tears), the students were instructed to find their seats.

Diana lead her friends to the seats she had previously preserved and sat them down, ensuring that Akko had the seat that would benefit her the most out of the others in the group.

In a few minute's time, all of the students found a place to sit.

Akko's heart threatened to jump out of her chest with how quickly it was thumping in excitement, but held her composure to the best of her ability.

Her self-control was further challenged once the spotlights onstage had died down, opting the students to gaze up at the oncoming night sky.

Ursula stood up from her seat and made her way over to the microphone. "Young witches of Luna Nova, I ask that you now remain silent for the duration of the ceremony. The comet will be here within the next few-"

"Look! There!"

A voice from the audience snatched away the attention that was previously being held by Professor Ursula, a stray hand in the ocean of students pointing up towards the sky.

All heads obediently craned upwards, and Akko's jaw came close to dropping.

It started off as a small twinkle of red and white, nearly imperceptible from this astronomical distance.

But within a few seconds, the twinkle had grown slightly bigger.

And bigger.

And a little bigger still.

Diana, Lotte, Sucy, Amanda, Jasminka and Constanze directed their own eyes over to Akko, their hearts warming once they saw the transfixed expression on her face.

An air horn could go off an inch away from her ear, and the chances were good that she wouldn't have even heard it.

Genuinely happy for their friend, they turned their own eyes upwards, ready to take in the sight of the comet passing by . . .

At least for as long as they could before a nearly blinding flash of light washed over the sky, the comet vanishing completely out of sight in an instant.

A collective gasp of surprise traveled through the students as the rubbed their now irritated eyes, black dots dancing in their vision.

Ursula and the other teachers gazed at one another confusedly before Finneran stood up and pointed back at the academy.

"Look!"

Following her pointing finger, the teachers found the source of the disturbance, causing their hearts to sink in mortification.

A series of spotlights were shining as brightly as possible at the base of Luna Nova as an airship began to descend, lowering itself onto the landing pad that was reserved for supply drop-offs.

The airship came in for a soft landing, but the spotlights still dominated the sky, even as the groundskeepers and other helping hands began to wheel out the crate-fulls of goods, loading them into the storage sheds.

Holbrooke placed an embarrassed hand over her forehead.

"Oh dear. I had no idea that the mandrake shipment was _tonight_."

Professor Nelson was the first to act. "I'll see if I can't speed it up over there."

Without waiting for any confirmation from Holbrooke, the flight instructor grabbed hold of her broom and zoomed off toward the school.

Any previous signs of joy and euphoria that Akko was displaying earlier was all but gone, having since been replaced with dread and paranoia. She stepped on top of her chair, whipping her head back and forth to try and find the comet, but the light prevented her eyes from opening all the way.

Her friends exchanged helpless glances, silently trying to come up with a solution for Akko's sake, but they all knew that the precious little time that they had was quickly running out.

"C-can anybody see it?" Akko asked hopelessly, her hair whipping around her face as she desperately tried to find the comet amidst the blanket of light. "Which way did it go?!"

"Akko, you should get down from there," Lotte gently pressed, trying her best to distract Akko with something else.

But they all knew that there was absolutely nothing that any of them could offer her in terms of a distraction.

After what felt like an eternity, the spotlights dimmed down, allowing the stars to be visible once more.

But, to Akko's horror, it was too late.

She was lucky enough to have caught the literal tail end of the comet however, watching as its red light dwindled to nothing more than a tiny flicker before vanishing entirely.

Akko remained standing on her chair, gaping slack jawed up at the sky, hoping against hope that the comet would somehow make another lap around the Earth.

For a solid two minutes, not a single person in the audience was willing to break the nearly deafening silence. It was then that professor Nelson returned on her broom, eyes closed shamefully as she stepped off of her ride, knowing that her effort had been in vain.

The faculty all exchanged an unsure look with one another until Holbrooke finally decided that the silence had to be broken. She stepped up to the podium once more and awkwardly cleared her throat. "Erm, th-thank you all for having attended tonight's main event. Though I am truly sorry for having thoroughly wasted your time." The teachers were about to dispute her last comment, but were stopped by her lifting her hand.

"To any one of you who was lucky enough to have fully seen the spectacle, I sincerely hope that you gained something from this experience."

It almost pained the students to see Holbrooke up there. Her usual kind eyes still sparkled, but they were filled with what appeared to be remorse, and even a hint of embarrassment. Her smile was forced and sad as well, they observed.

With one final nod, Holbrooke allowed the students to return to their dorms.

The students raised themselves from their seats en masse and shimmied themselves out of their aisles, picking up their casual chit chat on their small trek back to the school. As they did so, the airship ascended ever so slowly and flew away no faster than a snail.

Within a few minutes' time, only a select few students remained in the field. None of them were willing to say a word, feeling as though the slightest change in tone would result in a cataclysmic breakdown from the brunette girl.

Akko, with the dream-crushing experience still numbing her mind and body, was all but dead to the world around her. Her eyes were seemingly glued to the sky as she stood on top of her chair, shoulders slumped and knees clearly weak.

Diana, Lotte and the rest of her friends exchanged looks, silently swapping ideas on how to snap Akko out of her trance.

Finally, the last of the students and faculty had dispersed, leaving the group alone in the quiet evening.

Only Professor Ursula remained onstage.

No amount of magic in the world would be able to pick up the pieces of her shattered heart at the sight of her pupil so emotionally broken.

She couldn't quite hear from this distance, but Ursula observed as Lotte tugged at Akko's sleeve, offering her a small smile while doing her best to console her. Whatever it was she said didn't appear to offer any solace to the brunette, but it did snap her back into the present.

Finally casting her gaze away from the sky, Akko stepped off of her seat and slowly marched herself out of the aisle, her arms limp all the while as if she were still partially in a trance. No one decided to go after her, but they somehow all came to the same conclusion that whatever it was that Akko needed at that moment, it wasn't anything that any of them could offer.

 _The next day_ ,

The forecast for the morning called for heavy overcast. Diana peeked outside and deemed it to be true.

After climbing out of her bed, the young prodigy then went about her usual routine:

Get changed, prepare her bed for the evening, eat a fairly wholesome breakfast, get her teeth brushed, organize her book bag, wish Barbara and Hannah a good day of studying, and then make her way to her first class.

Everything appeared to be going as well as any other day.

Until she noticed a slight anomaly in first period.

Quill in hand and prepared to jot down whatever notes the teacher would instruct them to, Diana's gaze fixated itself a few rows down, taking notice of the empty seat in between Lotte and Sucy.

 _A/N: Uff da! This one took a while. I've had this chapter spinning around in my head for quite a while, so I hope you guys enjoyed it! (Though I'm not sure how pleased I am overall with the whole flashback sequence. I may go back for some tweaking in the future)._

 _Be sure to drop off a review!_


	7. The Part When the Gang Steps Up

_A/N: What, me? Well of course an avid LWA fan such as myself remembered that Croix and Ursula weren't in the same year together and therefore wouldn't be roommates. Pfft, yeah. That'd be pretty dumb . . ._

 _I'm not changing it._

 _Now then, I should say that despite what categories that I have this story under, I think that this particular chapter would more so be filed under the hurt/comfort category. Just wanted to give you a heads up._

 _However, that being said, this is also a chapter I've been really, REALLY looking forward to. And I'm very touched by the last chapter's reviews!_

 _Now then, with that padding out of the way, on with the chapter!_

The sun was back in the sky in full force today without a single cloud to hinder its presence.

This only added more fuel to the turmoil inside Ursula's chest as she made her way to the Fountain of Polaris, a bucket of fish clutched in both fists.

Ursula inhaled a large gulp of the crisp air through her nose, then let it out of her mouth.

Normally, the instructor would give virtually anything for a picture perfect day like this. She's noticed that it increases her productivity and qualms her anxieties in most cases. But, after Friday's events, she couldn't bring herself to enjoy it.

It played again in her mind in a constant loop, all but torturing the woman by forcing her to experience the disappointment and dejection on Akko's face over and over and over. It was almost maddening how powerless she had felt at that moment, knowing that there was absolutely nothing that she could do, say, or give to her student that would return the life to her eyes.

To put the spring back in her step.

To have her laugh fill her ears.

To get Akko back.

The weekend had gone by at an agonizingly slow pace. Ursula had kept herself busy by grading papers and reviewing the few extra credit assignments that were handed in shortly after the comet came and went.

If she were honest with herself, it was more of a last ditch effort to distract herself from the guilt that plagued her. Sure it had worked, but only for the brief amount of time it actually took to grade them.

After that, the memory came flooding back with the force of a runaway freighter.

She also had passed the time by taking a few strolls around campus, hoping that the exercise would clear her head.

It didn't take long for her to regret those decisions.

For each walk she had taken, she had never come across Akko.

She passed by Lotte and Sucy every once in a while. They had offered the teacher a respectful wave and a nod of the head, but nothing more. With the brunette absent from their meetups, it seemed as if their joy had remained with her, refusing to leave their room.

During her walks, she had also come across Akko's extended circle of friends.

When she passed by Amanda, the jock merely snorted and kept walking. Neither Jasminka nor Constanze were all that talkative either (well, at least not any more than usual, she noted).

Diana exchanged a glance with the teacher, but nothing more.

Whether Akko knew it or not, she had a certain effect on everyone who had come to know her. Especially on the level that they knew her on.

Once the weekend had mercifully come to an end, Ursula was even more surprised to find out that Akko hadn't attended her classes for the day.

Professors Nelson, Finneran, and Holbrooke had confronted Ursula about the matter, mentioning the connection she has with the student, and how that made it her responsibility to see Akko through this conflict.

While she wanted nothing more than to give Akko her guidance, she had come to the conclusion that, frankly, the teachers didn't understand what Akko was going through.

This wasn't something that a mere lecture could fix.

This was a matter that the young girl held near and dear to her heart.

Even Ursula couldn't imagine what it would have felt like to have something that important and personal to be ripped away from her.

She would talk to the girl soon. But now was not the time for it.

As soon as the sun rose this morning, Ursula instantly remembered that Arcas was in need of a feeding. Given the events over the weekend, she had come to the conclusion that Akko would still be in no state to feed him despite her promise last week.

Retaking the responsibility, Ursula filled up her bucket with fish and was now making her way across the lawn, hoping that another visit with her childhood friend could calm the storm inside of her.

Her heels clicked against the floor with each step. She rounded another corner and found Arcas . . .

Being fed by Akko.

Ursula's grip on the bucket's handle faltered and her heart skipped a beat at the sight. It took every ounce of strength built up inside of her to not let out a small yelp of shock.

Blinking away her surprise, Ursula finally found her voice.

"A-Akko?"

The brunette turned, eyes wide, but lacking the trademarked Akko sparkle. Her face fell into a small, semi-forced smile that pained the instructor all the more.

"Hi, Professor."

She scooped out another fish with her hand and tossed it to the eager polar bear, who snatched it out of the air effortlessly.

Ursula drummed her fingers against the handle, thoroughly unsure of how to approach this situation.

"Hello, Akko. I, uh, wasn't expecting-"

"I made a promise, remember? I can't have my friend starving now, can I?"

Akko patted her hand against the top of Arcas's head. "I heard that I got you in trouble for not coming to class. I didn't mean to get you yelled at."

Releasing a hand from the handle, Ursula waved off Akko's concern. "Oh, n-not to worry! Even as a teacher, I still get talked to like that every once in a while. It's no big thing."

Akko only nodded in reply. Ursula, meanwhile, mentally slapped herself.

 _Ok, maybe Akko doesn't need to know about every time I get into trouble_.

Turning her attention back to the large bear, Akko fed him the last fish inside of her bucket. "Sorry buddy. That's all I've got for today. Same time next week?"

Arcas licked his chops in reply.

Without another word, Akko began to walk out of the large room, her gaze downtrodden and her posture slouched. As she passed by her instructor, she gave her another smile, this one just as forced as the one before.

"I'll see you in class."

Without waiting for a response, Akko began walking down the hall, vanishing as she rounded the corner.

That had been the last straw for Ursula.

Her eyes steeling in determination and her lips in a firm line, she cemented her resolve right then and there.

She couldn't stand by anymore.

It was time to get Akko back.

 _The Next Day_ ,

The final class of the day had been dismissed. All the students filed out of the classrooms and flooded the hallways in an instant. Ursula let out a sigh, preparing herself for a faculty meeting that she was not particularly looking forward to attending.

While understanding the importance of holding them, faculty meetings were more often than not dreadfully dull.

Much of the same topics were covered in each meeting, such as budgeting, coordinating seasonal events, adjusting the curriculum to whatever standards they agreed on, and so forth.

But this meeting would also cover attendance of certain students, which would then lead to debating what the proper course of action should be for those who miss a certain number of periods.

And just as she feared, Akko's name was brought up.

This was the second day in a row that the brunette failed to show up to any of her classes, and the teachers were concerned on how this would affect her performance throughout the rest of the school year.

"The girl has always struggled in her studies, there's no secret about that," Finneran spoke thought aloud. "But one thing she is not is a quitter."

Holbrooke nodded in agreement.

"Professor Ursula."

The young instructor perked back up at the mention of her name, not realizing that her posture had begun to slouch in her chair.

"Y-yes?"

"It's clear that Akko holds you in a high regard. And it's fairly clear how much she means to you as well. Before her tardiness becomes a trending issue, do you think you could have a word with her?"

Ursula's eyes fell.

"I want nothing more than to make her feel better. Last year, I made the mistake of not going after her when she needed me most. I'm not going to make that same mistake again."

Holbrooke's head tilted.

"But . . . I'm ashamed to say that I've no clue where to begin talking to her. This is a delicate matter that's effecting her."

The remainder of the meeting consisted of a surplus of what-if scenarios being thrown her way, suggestions of how to approach the issue.

She would never say aloud, but despite the genuine concern they were showing, none of the other teachers have taken a lot of time to get to know Akko like she has (save for Holbrooke's naturally kind demeanor making a definite lasting impact on the brunette). They don't understand what it was that was taken from the girl.

In almost an act of mercy, the meeting was finally adjourned.

It had for the most part been a fairly productive meeting, but the lengthy discussion about Akko only filled her head with a bigger whirlwind of guilt. She exited the room along with the other instructors and each of them parted ways, heading back to their own offices.

Ursula took her time as she walked down the hall, wracking her brain for anything that she could do to make Akko feel better.

It was when she couldn't come up with anything else that she finally came to the conclusion that this wasn't something she could do on her own.

She was going to need help.

And thankfully, Akko had a group of friends who seemed to be as prepared to help her out as Ursula was.

 _Later_ ,

If there was one thing that Diana wasn't particularly keen on, it was surprises.

She made it her mission to make her studies as coordinated, organized, and thorough as possible as to help her soak in as much information as possible, allowing her to be the best student that she was expected to be.

Her days were planned out nearly from minute one to midnight. The moment someone decided to throw a monkey wrench in her path, everything needed to be bumped as to fit her schedule.

Not that she minded most of them. If anything, it helped her improve her problem solving skills.

So one could only imagine the confusion she felt when she found a note inviting her to Professor Ursula's office lying on her pillow.

Thankfully, she had managed to complete the majority of her schoolwork in her classes today, so this diversion from today's schedule wasn't totally unprecedented.

Besides, it wasn't like her to deliberately ignore a call from a superior.

As she made her way over to Ursula's office, Diana began to wonder what exactly it was that Ursula had summoned her for. Of all the faculty members, she was the last one she would have expected to call her for assistance.

She made her way to the office and opened the door, blinking in surprise at the small gathering inside.

It seemed that she wasn't the only one Ursula summoned.

Lotte and Sucy sat side by side, their chairs pushed against the far wall. Amanda casually leaned against one of the many book cases, her eyes absently wandering around the office. Constanze and Jasminka sat on the floor, the former chowing down on a bag of pretzels and the latter tinkering with what appeared to be a remote control.

Professor Ursula was currently sitting in front of her desk, the glare of her glasses preventing Diana from looking clearly at her eyes. Her back was slouched forward and her hands were folded; she was clearly deep in thought before Diana had entered the room.

All sets of eyes befell on her as soon as she opened the door.

Amanda smirked. "Yeah, figured you'd be here for this too."

Diana closed the door behind her. "I assume you all received the same invitation?"

Amanda tsked and pointed finger guns in Diana's direction. "Yep. We've been waiting forever for you to show up so we could finally get things started."

"It's only been three minutes," Lotte cleared up.

"But I'm glad that you were able to make it, Diana," Ursula stood up, her kind eyes now fully visible. "I'm afraid that I need your help. All of your help," she clarified.

Noting how quickly Professor Ursula got to the point, she had quickly earned the attention of everyone in the room.

And they all had the same creeping suspicion as to what this was all about.

Making herself comfortable, Diana sat down on a free chair. "This is about Akko, I presume?"

Ursula nodded. "Today was the second day in a row that she missed her classes. The other instructors are becoming impatient and I'm growing more worried."

Diana nodded in understanding.

"It is unlike her to miss her studies," Diana observed.

Jasminka stopped eating, her eyes falling sadly to the floor. "Class hasn't been the same without her."

Constanze nodded in agreement.

"She's been a real downer in our dorm, too," Sucy added. "She doesn't even fight back when I test my potions on her. Takes all the fun out of it."

Lotte's foot was absentmindedly bouncing on the wooden floor. "There's got to be something we can do to snap her out of this, right? If this happened to any one of us, Akko wouldn't have hesitated to help . . ." A thoughtful smile passed over Lotte's face. "She'd probably scold us for letting something so small get to us so easily."

The comment earned a snort from Amanda, whose arms were folded behind her head, still leaning against the book case. "Well, that's kinda hypocritical, isn't it?"

"Nobody's perfect, Miss O'Neill," Ursula chimed in. "It's often times easier to console others than it is to find peace in a matter yourself. And this is why I've brought you all here." Ursula made her way to the center of the room. "Akko is in pain. I made the mistake last year of not capitalizing on it the moment I saw it." She could feel the cold stare of Diana's piercing eyes boring into the back of her head, but did her best to ignore it.

Rather, she stood with her back straight and feet planted firmly on the floor to demonstrate her resolve to her students. "I'm not making that same mistake again."

A moment of silence swept through the office space, the intent of their invitations now out in the open.

They were going to help Akko.

Whether she wanted it or not.

Diana rose up from her seat. "What is it you need us to do?"

That single question all but squandered whatever confidence the timid instructor had coursing through her faster than she could blink, her knees suddenly wobbly in uncertainty. "See, that's the thing . . . I can't come up with anything on my own. You all spend the most time with her outside of class. What I'm asking for is your total commitment to helping your friend."

Another wave of silence passed through the office.

"You said so yourself, Yanson," Amanda began, earning the blonde's attention. "She'd be busting her butt to make us feel better. Couldn't call myself her friend if I didn't do the same."

Lotte nodded, a radiant smile forming quickly. "I'm ready to do whatever it takes!"

Sucy shrugged. "I just want my test subject back."

Jasminka nodded, her bright smile accentuating her rosy cheeks while Constanze offered her patented thumbs up.

Ursula's heart warmed in that moment; seeing all of the young girl's friends get together, currently swapping ideas on how to cheer their fellow student up made her more proud than she could even begin to describe.

Honestly, their get together was going just as well as she thought it would . . . and about as odd as she thought it would as well.

"What if we got her a new broom?"

"Despite how far she has come in her flying skills, I think that a brand new broom may be a bit premature still."

"I have a cake recipe that always make me feel better."

"I could look around to see if there's a demo derby anywhere nearby. Seein' cars smash each other 'till they're unusable is bound to put the spring back in anybody's step!"

More and more ideas were tossed around the group for another half hour, each of them either shot down politely or flat out ignored. But they continued to exchange ideas with one another regardless, Ursula jotting down the suggestions that she felt would benefit her pupil in her notebook.

Another fifteen minutes passed. They could all feel the fatigue from the day's events start to take effect. But there was no turning back from this now. They were too far in to call it a night. Throughout their meeting, they had all but reached the silent agreement that none of them were going to return to their dorms until they had come up with the perfect solution to cheer up Akko.

Ursula was in the middle of scribbling down another idea when the room fell silent due to a knock on the door. The hinges creaked as the door swung open to reveal Professor Holbrooke, her hands folded behind her back and her signature warm smile lighting up the room a little bit more.

They all also took notice to the somewhat knowing look she had in her eyes, each of them receiving the sneaking suspicion that she had been listening in on them for who-knows-how-long.

Professor Ursula cleared her throat and rose from her seat. "Erhm, p-please come in. I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you to-"

"Oh no, no, I'm the one who should be apologizing," the elder merely laughed away Ursula's concern. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just passing by to say goodnight. I believe that I'm going to turn in a tad early this evening."

Ursula and the other girls blinked in surprise. Something was definitely up. They all knew how kind the head instructor was, but she wasn't one to drop by out of the blue just to wish someone sweet dreams.

"Oh, h-how kind of you," Ursula lightly stammered. "Good night to you as well."

Holbrooke nodded, accepting the awkward reply. "Yes, I've found myself especially weary tonight for some reason. I can't help out that much if I'm just a drowsy bag of bones, now can I?"

The room held a pregnant silence for a beat.

"But that's the funny thing about lending a helping hand, isn't it? Sometimes it's not all just about what to do to help, but rather _who_ can help." Her gaze went straight to Professor Ursula, her cheeky smile growing even wider before she slowly closed the door. "Have a good night, girls!"

And with that, the door clicked shut, leaving the room in a stunned silence.

All the girls exchanged confused glances with one another before they turned to look at their instructor, who was still standing up in front of her chair, her gaze unbreakable from something against the far wall.

Lotte followed Ursula's gaze and immediately found what it was she was looking so intently at.

Soon after, all eyes in the room were focused on the same picture frame. None of them even needing to say another word as they all came up with the same idea.

 _The next day_ ,

It was as if they were children again. Children who had formed a secret club and had to keep it a secret from the rest of the world no matter what.

If they were honest with themselves, the feeling of it all was pretty exciting.

The entire day went as usual, save for a few knowing glances that were shared with the other members of the private party during their overlapping classes. Then they went on to the next class, then the class after that, each of them virtually biting their tongues until they were bloody to prevent them from speaking of their plan, lest the information miraculously make its way to Akko's ears.

As expected, Akko was still nowhere to be seen; a fact that still stung their hearts despite it being necessary for their goal. Sucy and Lotte had left the melancholy girl in bed, not even bothering to disturb her that morning.

Finally, the final class of the day wrapped up. After dropping off their belongings, they rendezvoused at Professor Ursula's office. They all huddled around the teacher's desk as they received their individual instructions. Ursula made extra sure to have each of them play some sort of role in Akko's 'rehabilitation'.

With all the instructions and shopping lists properly distributed, they dispersed, agreeing to meet back up within the next three hours.

Before any of them had knew it, it was time again to meet back at Ursula's office for them to report back on their various chores. After they all had said their piece, the instructor nodded her approval. "We're just about ready. I need to set up a few more things outside, but I'll be set within fifteen minutes." She turned to Lotte and Sucy. "It's up to you two now to go get her."

Lotte nodded, her mouth in a nervous straight line.

As they got closer to their dorm room, the two girls were blindsided by Amanda, who had followed them up to their level shortly after Diana and Ursula left to get set up.

The jock strolled up and matched the other two girls' pace, rounding the final corner that lead to the hallway which their dorm rested inside of. "So how's it you're gonna get her outta there, exactly? By the sounds of it, we need an enchanted crowbar to get her out of that bed of hers."

Sucy sniffed. "I didn't want to be the one to say anything, but I was thinking that same thing."

Lotte shrugged timidly. "Well, once we get in there, I'm sure we'll figure something out."

It didn't take a detective to find the uneasiness in her voice. Amanda nodded skeptically, leaning back on the wall once they reached their door. "I'm sure. Because improv is definitely in your skillset." She ignored the unappreciative scowl from the shy girl. "If you need an extra hand, just let me know. I can get her out of there in a jiffy."

Choosing neither to accept nor deny her offer, Lotte steeled herself with a calming breath before pushing the door open.

She was both relieved and heartbroken at what she found inside.

Lotte was relieved to have found Akko still in her room, appearing not have caught wind of their plans. But she was equally devastated to find her exactly the way they had left her: curled up in her bed underneath the covers. Her back was to them, but Lotte could tell that the girl was awake.

The two girls entered the room and slowly shut the door behind them. Akko showed not even the slightest hint that she was aware of their presence. She didn't stir or turn in bed to greet them, but rather stayed perfectly still, the only sign of life being displayed from her was the slow rise and fall of her shoulders.

The trio stayed silent for longer than any of them were comfortable with. It was only after Sucy nudged Lotte in the side with her elbow that she finally found the right words.

"H-hi, Akko."

She was given no response.

"Um, I'm not sure if you noticed, but I left the notes from today's classes on the desk. Feel, ah, feel free to copy them."

" . . . Thanks."

That single word was the first word that the girl had spoken all day today. Despite how soft and defeated her tone was, Lotte accepted it as a small victory nonetheless.

After receiving another jab to her side from Sucy, the blonde cut right to the chase.

"Listen . . . Um, Diana, Amanda, Sucy and I were going into town tonight. We're planning on stopping by that café you like. Do you wanna go?"

A weighted silence filled the air for a small eternity before Akko answered. "I'm not thirsty."

"You know you don't have to order a drink. They've got other stuff in there too."

"I already had an apple today."

For each suggestion Lotte threw her way, Akko had a pathetic reason to counter them.

Finally realizing that she was fighting a losing battle, Lotte let out a defeated sigh. "Well, is there anything at all we can do for you? Before we head out?"

After another small moment of silence, Akko turned so she was facing her friends. Lotte's heart plummeted once she saw how downtrodden her friend's usually cheerful eyes appeared. It was clear to the blonde now that missing the comet had an even bigger effect on her than she had previously thought.

"Not right now," she murmured, sounding like she was almost on the tipping point of consciousness identical to the sensation one feels right before falling to sleep.

A frown worked its way onto Lotte's face.

"Okay. Well, we'll see you when we get back I guess."

Akko nodded.

Turning, Lotte ushered herself and Sucy out the door. Once they shut it behind them, Lotte wasn't at all surprised to see that Amanda was still where she last was; leaning against the wall with an I-Told-You-So smile on her lips.

Relenting, Lotte looked Amanda in the eyes.

"Fine, we'll do it your way. Sucy and I will meet you down there."

Not bothering to wait for a response, Lotte and Sucy turned and made their way down the hall, vanishing beyond the corner.

Smirking confidently, Amanda rolled her head, taking pleasure from the satisfying cracks and pops of her neck before cracking her knuckles.

Inside the room, Akko's breaths had gotten slower and heavier. She could feel her eyelids growing heavier and her brain was foggy from the lack of activity today. The girl was mentally debating with herself whether or not it was worth it to get out of bed and partake in her classes tomorrow.

In short, the last thing that Akko was expecting right at that very moment was for Amanda to literally kick the door wide open.

"ACK!"

Her heart jumping into her throat, Akko's body leapt from her bed in shock, head banging against the top bunk before she rolled unceremoniously onto the floor in a tangled mess of blankets and unkempt hair.

Displaying no signs of shame, Amanda all but strutted inside the dorm room, crouched down in front of Akko until she was mere inches away from her face, and smiled devilishly. "How can you even think of being in bed when you've got a date waiting for you outside?"

Akko's head tilted in confusion.

"D . . . Date?"

"That's right my friend!"

"Wha-GAH!"

The second to last thing that Akko wasn't expecting was for Amanda to throw her arms around her waist and sling the girl over her shoulder, her already wild hair flailing in all directions. Amanda was mildly amused to see that Akko hadn't even bothered to change out of what appeared to be a brand new dark navy onesie with a twinkling star pattern speckling it all over.

"A date with destiny!" Amanda clarified as she spun on her heel and darted out the door, carrying an officially out-of-whack Akko along with her.

Amanda, along with her unsuspecting guest, ran down the hallways as fast as she could, being mindful as to not make Akko's face smack repeatedly against her back. They rounded every corner and dodged every startled student they came across with clumsy grace. But Amanda could honestly care less. As soon as she had her mind set on something, no amount of something silly as humility was going to deter her from accomplishing it.

Eventually, the two of them nearly collided with Professors Finneran and Nelson, who were idly chit chatting as they made their way down the hall. The two of them jumped in alarm at the sight of Amanda and Akko barreling towards them at seemingly breakneck speeds.

Practicing her superior agility, Amanda sidestepped and swung herself around the teachers with ease, careful to not spill Akko on the floor, and continued on her way.

"Miss O'Neill!" Finneran shouted. "What is . . . Let miss Kagari go this instant!"

"No can do, Teach!" Amanda shot back, not breaking a single stride. "We'll explain later!"

Offering no other form of explanation, Amanda vanished out of sight, leaving a bewildered pair of educators in her dust.

A few halls later, Amanda encountered an incoming set of stairs. Akko, detecting the steps approaching, fidgeted under Amanda's grip. The girl squirmed, but Amanda responded by tightening her hold.

"Sorry, Akko! This train won't stop that easily!"

With a confident leap, Amanda took the express route down the stairs; by sliding down on the railings. If she were honest with herself, she very well could have ran down the steps. But the thrill was too tempting to pass up. Her teeth bared in delight, she laughed at the shocked faces of students they passed.

As soon as she leapt off of the railing at the bottom, Akko finally let out the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding.

Finally, the doors leading to the open field came into view. Bursting through them with the same force as she had demolished Akko's door just moments earlier, she found herself outside, the air growing chilly as late evening approached, the sun barely a sliver over the horizon.

Sequestered into the middle of the field, Amanda unslung Akko from her shoulder and plopped the girl down on a white fold up chair. Catching her breath, she finally was able to throw the glare she'd been meaning to right to Amanda's eyes.

"The heck was that all about?! Warn a girl next time!"

Amanda shrugged innocently. "Just followin' orders. Sit tight. It's about to start."

Before Akko could question what it was that Amanda was referring to, the jock spun on her heel and ran the opposite way, directing Akko's attention to the looming object before her:

The stage from last week was still set up. But rather than the traditional bare bones stage and podium, it was now equipped with what appeared to be an impromptu Broadway stage, with maroon curtains hung on both sides and behind as well.

For a moment, Akko had all but forgotten the rude method of transporting her down here, and about the cold air . . . and how her hair was still an absolute train wreck and that she was still in her starry night footie pajamas. Instead, her mind was doing its best to figure out why the stage was still set up, and why there was only one chair occupying the field.

But before she could come up with an answer, she was startled out of her thoughts by a familiar voice.

"Popcorn! Get your popcorn!"

To the left, Akko found Jasminka coming towards her, holding a concession tray that was slung around her shoulders as if she were working in a baseball stadium. In the tray were multiple bags of fluffy, buttery popcorn.

Jasminka continued to advertise her snack (while sneaking in a few bites for herself) until she finally was in front of Akko. She smiled kindly as she offered her a bag.

"Here you go, Miss!"

Bemused, Akko hesitantly took the bag and placed it on her lap. Jasminka nodded in approval before she returned to calling out to an invisible audience. "Popcorn! Delicious popcorn here! Get them before they're gone!"

Akko blinked. Things were getting weird now. She looked down at the popcorn, thinking whether or not it was a good idea to eat it. Finding no good reason to refuse it, she took a small handful and consumed it. She swallowed and looked to her right, nearly jumping out of her seat once again at the sight of Constanze, who appears to have materialized out of thin air right next to her.

"GAH!"

Spilling a cluster of popcorn on the ground due to her surprise, Akko recomposed herself and looked at her friend, waiting for her to do something.

Constanze, in her usual Constanze style, said nothing, but held out her hand, offering her the folded piece of paper she was holding.

Eyeing it for a moment, Akko finally worked up the nerve to take it from the small girl. In return, Constanze gave a polite bow before walking behind the stage.

Akko blinked again.

She looked down at the new gift she was given. It appeared to be some sort of playbill, folded vertically three times. The front of it was lavishly decorated like a brochure with shining stars and . . . was that Simon's Comet?

In bold font atop of the paper was text that read _Luna Nova presents an uplifting history of the stars._

Her curiosity growing feverishly, she opened the pamphlet, taken aback by another piece of paper falling out of it. This one was folded multiple times into a small square, the colors on the inside of it bleeding through ever so slightly.

She set down the pamphlet and opened the folded paper, which revealed itself to be the drawing that she had created for her inventor friend as an apology for accidentally destroying her ship. Despite it being folded multiple times over, the paper was still in good shape. But what caught Akko's attention was the blot of green ink on the top right corner that she most definitely did not put there before.

It was an image of a gloved hand giving a thumbs up.

Constanze had literally given Akko her seal of approval.

Akko took that as a sign that she accepted her apology.

As the moments went on, her mind began to accept the theater-esque vibe that was being created. She absentmindedly began to read the playbill while taking a few bites out of her popcorn bag.

She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there, but before long, a spotlight lit the stage, pointing itself to a shy, blonde figure that Akko immediately recognized.

Lotte smiled kindly before clearing her throat and began speaking in a formal tone of voice. "Thank you all for coming," she timidly began.

Quirking an eyebrow, Akko looked left and right, all just to confirm that she was indeed the only one sitting in the field. Choosing not to press that particular matter, Akko remained silent as Lotte continued.

"We hope you all enjoy the show and take something away from it. Without further ado, I give you tonight's program." She gestured with her arm to the stage behind her as she stepped out of the spotlight, backing herself behind the curtain. A moment later, the spotlight dimmed until the entire stage was drenched in darkness.

Through the black, Akko could see a wispy substance take shape and swirl across the stage. It didn't take her long to realize that it was fog (what she couldn't see was the fog emanating from the cauldron that was being stirred by Sucy backstage) meant for dramatic affect.

The fog settled on stage for a few moments longer before a blue light from behind dimly lit the stage, revealing a cloaked silhouette. Another spotlight appeared, this one not as strong as the last, and centered in on the hooded figure.

Her head was down, so Akko was unable to immediately tell who it was. But once she raised her chin, there was no mistaking the piercing blue eyes or unwavering demeanor. Cementing the deduction were the strands of curly white hair poking out from the hood.

Akko's eyebrows furrowed in surprise.

"Diana?"

The young prodigy stood there for a few moments longer before finally speaking.

"Since the beginning of time, mankind has turned to the stars for guidance."

Akko couldn't see a microphone nearby, but somehow Diana's voice resonated around the environment.

Diana raised her wand quickly, the fabric of her cloak whooshing together. She swooped her arm in a wide arc, dispersing a small fraction of the billowing fog. In the air surrounding her, tiny flecks of light appeared that Akko assumed were meant to be stars. The whole scene looked as if it were an elaborate holographic projection.

"These stars have inspired billions with their tales," Diana continued. "Each story just as timeless as the characters who inspire them."

With another flick of her wrist, a small cluster of stars swirled together, looking like a wild pack of fireflies had been caught in a gust of wind. Before long, the stars came to a stop, taking the shape of a large, fairly majestic bird.

"Aquila," Diana named it. "The carrier of Zeus's lightning bolts."

Another swish of her wrist sent more stars spiraling to the other side of the stage, taking another form, this one was longer and shorter than the other. "Scorpius," Diana filled in again. "The monster who killed Orion." The moment the words left her lips, more stars clustered together, taking the shape of Orion, complete with his belt and bow.

Diana went on, summoning more constellations as well as informing her 'audience' the meanings behind them.

Before Akko knew it, the stage was packed with constellations, all of them she recognized.

Taurus.

Musca.

Leo.

And the last one appeared to be Lupus.

Finally, the young witch raised her wand over her head, the tip of it pulsing green.

Akko was officially transfixed on the events transpiring onstage.

"And finally," Diana continued, "The Ursas. Major and Minor."

Another flick of her wrist conjured up more stars, swirling and taking the form of two of the most recognizable constellations in existence. Above Diana's head appeared the Little Dipper, and above that one was the Big Dipper.

With one final spell, more stars appeared on top of Ursa Major, forming together to take on the image of a man who held a large jug. Akko immediately identified this one as Aquarius.

"Behold," Diana breathed. "The stars."

Akko's breath hitched when she saw Aquarius begin to move. The stars in his face flashed Akko a smile before he raised the jug and poured its contents inside the pot in front of him. The 'water' inside of it fell inside of the empty pot in a steady stream of mist and fog until it was filled to the brim. Once he was satisfied, Aquarius saluted Diana beneath him and vanished.

A moment afterwards, Ursa Major tipped forward, spilling the fake water inside of its little brother until it couldn't hold anymore either. Finally, it tipped over and spilled right on top of Diana.

Akko shrieked in alarm, caught off guard as Diana's form disappear in the blanket of white.

Shifting in her seat, Akko did her best to find Diana in the plume, spilling a few pieces of popcorn on the ground in the process.

A small eternity had passed by once Akko finally caught sight of movement inside the cloud. A black form appeared once the fog had dissipated enough. But this one was slightly taller than Diana, and was clearly not wearing a cloak of any kind.

As the fog cleared more and more away, Akko was able to clearly see who had taken Diana's spot.

Her grip faltered, the bag of popcorn plummeting the ground entirely along with the pamphlet.

If her heart wasn't threatening to burst out of her chest in excitement before, it most certainly was now.

There was absolutely no mistaking the white tunic, blue thigh-length boots, red cape, and exceptionally long hat.

Akko would be prepared to deny it, but she could feel a tear welling up behind her eye.

" . . . Chariot."

Lo and behold, there she was; Akko's childhood icon in all her glory.

She stood onstage in a dramatic stance, with one foot crossed over the other as she held her wand aloft over her head. The mischievous glint in her eye looked as if it had never left.

If Akko wasn't so stunned at that very moment, she was almost positive she would be hyperventilating.

It was literally as if her mind was so abuzz with activity that it left no room for anything negative or potentially harmful.

Chariot was here.

Chariot was onstage.

Chariot was _about to perform for her_.

Seeing Akko's reaction brought a smirk to Ursula's lips. This was the most she'd seen Akko emote in a few days.

Knowing she had the girl's undivided attention, she thought now was as good a time as any to begin.

Waving her arms in a large arc, she projected her voice outwards as if she were addressing a packed stadium.

"Is everybody ready?"

Words officially failing her, Akko only nodded.

Despite her melting heart at seeing her student's eyes widen to the size of saucers, Ursula stayed in character and began her routine.

She removed her cape and set herself in a defensive stance, turning her attention to Taurus, who had been assembled behind her.

Backstage, Lotte recognized her cue and summoned a small cluster of faeries. Her voice barely an audible whisper, she gave the small sprites their instructions, which they were willing to follow to the letter.

They zoomed up and over the curtain, each of them heading to an individual constellation. Once they each made it to their destinations, their bodies of light spread out, taking shape around the gathered stars.

Before Akko knew it, each constellation had a 'physical' transparent body around them, the stars still visible and acting as the illusions' skeleton.

Chariot, holding out her cape with her back turned to Akko, waved it at the bull.

Taurus scraped his hoof against the floor, preparing to charge. Rearing back on his hind legs, the bull landed and shot forward.

Chariot's smirk never once faltered as it drew closer. She spun on her heel and swished the cape around, sidestepping safely out of its path.

With nothing in between Taurus and Akko, the bull ran offstage and on a collision course with the stunned audience member.

Despite possessing the knowledge that this was a mere illusion, Akko flinched in her seat and covered her face with her arms. She barely managed to see the bull explode just a few feet in front of her into a flurry of mist and stars, now floating around wistfully like snow in a light breeze.

She lowered her arms and marveled at the sight before looking back up at the stage, where her mentor was in the middle of her routine, her cape back on her shoulders.

Scorpius scuttled forward on his spindly legs, snipping at Chariot with its massive pincers. Showing no signs of fear, the entertainer stepped, slid and flipped out of harm's way. She unsheathed her wand and waved it forward, sending a whirlwind in the scorpion's direction that disassembled its skeleton, sending them flying in all directions as its avatar flickered out of existence.

Somehow detecting a new threat behind her, Chariot fell into the splits, avoiding a bolt of faux lightning by mere inches and flinching as it exploded against the floor. Straightening out her legs, she rolled and avoided another volley of lightning bolts before finally finding an opening to slide back to her feet in a crouched position, ready to dodge or attack.

Aquila flapped his mighty wings with a bundle of zigzags in his talons high up above her head.

It dropped a few of its lightning bolts into the awaiting hands of Orion, who placed a few inside of his quiver while nocking one of them in his bow, taking aim at Chariot.

Pulling the string back, Orion unleashed the bolt of lightning. Chariot, in response, jumped and flipped, allowing the bolt to pass harmlessly underneath her as it embedded itself into Lupus, who was rearing to attack right behind her while her attention was elsewhere.

The wolf's form flickered and vanished, just like Scorpius's just a minute ago.

Chariot landed and immediately rolled, avoiding a swoop from Aquila, who was now out of ammunition.

Orion withdrew another lightning bolt, took aim, and fired at Chariot's feet. Dancing around each impact as if it were rehearsed (which it most definitely was, Akko reminded herself), her hero squatted low and swept her leg in a large circle, sweeping Orion's legs out from under him and toppling him to the floor. Standing triumphantly, she aimed her wand at the fallen giant.

" _Murowa_!"

A green bolt struck Orion dead on his chest, his avatar dwindling away and his stars floating calmly around her until they too vanished.

Nodding in pride, Chariot looked up and saw Musca buzzing forward, headed straight for her. Behind her, she could also see Aquila flying towards her for another pass, his talons prepared to strike.

Caught in between two oncoming foes, Chariot readied herself, sent a wink Akko's way (which made her stomach perform a somersault), and leapt upwards. Back flipping away from danger, Chariot watched as both fly and eagle collided with one another, both of them exploding into a puff of scattered stars.

As soon as she landed, Chariot dusted herself off calmly. Had Akko been able to, she'd be applauding uproariously.

That was until she remembered that there was still one more constellation that needed to be dealt with.

Having waited until the rest of the pack had cleared out, Leo reemerged from his hiding spot behind the curtains. Akko's heart pounded in anticipation as the lion drew ever closer to her idol.

What Akko wasn't anticipating, however, was another plume of fog to sweep over the stage, engulfing the back half entirely. From within, Akko could see six more hooded figures appear in a straight line, each of them with wands raised and glowing brightly.

It wasn't difficult for Akko to decipher who it was underneath the cloaks.

Pointing their wands and rearranging themselves to a crescent moon formation, they all exclaimed the same incantation.

" _Vaemos_!"

Not a full two seconds later, the lion stopped moving, totally frozen mid stalk. Chariot turned behind her and looked at Leo, shaking her head as if she were prepared to scold a child.

The other six witches raised their wands in perfect synchronization, lifting Leo off of his paws until he was hovering at least twelve feet in the air.

The red haired entertainer, before aiming her wand at the constellation, winked to her solo audience member.

"The stars are as ancient as time itself. But, they're far from the only influence that space has had on us."

Above their heads, the constellations reappeared, frozen in place as if they were the real deal.

"They are accompanied by a multitude of galaxies, planets, and . . ." Her wand, still poised up at the diorama, glowed a bright red, its aura growing wider and wider.

"Comets."

As soon as her wand couldn't hold the magic inside any longer, the wand released it in a massive blast of red, engulfing the constellations in its brilliant light.

The last of the magic traveled out of her wand, leaving the ball of excitable red magic to swirl and twirl onstage, the tail following behind it like a ribbon. As it flew past each set of stars, the faux comet soaked them up, growing in mass for each one it took in.

Finally, the last star vanished, leaving the ball of magic to spiral on its own. The red ball flew offstage, towards Akko. The girl shrieked and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs as it spun around her. Despite its close proximity, Akko couldn't take her eyes off of it, her head twisting this way and that in order to keep getting a good look at it.

Once the ball reached Akko's head, it shot straight up into the air, ten, twenty, thirty feet into the air. Once it reached its peak, it soared in a wide arc.

Akko's breath was officially lost at the sight.

Up above her was a near exact recreation of Simon's Comet.

Its tail was just as long and majestic as she had envisioned it. The stars behind it were all but blocked out as it passed in front, but all Akko needed to focus on at this very moment was the faux comet soaring above her in a wide arc.

She wasn't sure how long she had been looking up at it, for time seemed to have come to a complete stop. But before long, the ball began to shrink, its light fading away along with it. It grew smaller and smaller by the second, until it was nothing more than a tiny flicker of red light . . . that is until it virtually exploded into a multitude of red streaks and embers that took the shape of a human head.

But this particular human head had very discernable features, including low bangs, a cheerful smile, and bright, wondrous eyes.

Akko's gut did another flip once she came to the conclusion that the comet exploded into a gorgeous firework that resembled her.

Her head floated downward slowly, the red lights that it was composed of now growing dimmer. A few moments after, it had fully dissipated. The light vanished from the sky and Akko was left in the dark once again.

But she still looked upwards at the spot where the comet was.

The image was now fully engrained in her mind's eye.

And it was all thanks to the greatest set of friends anybody could ever ask for.

Snapping back into reality but still struck with awe (as evidenced by her slack jaw), Akko lowered her gaze back in front of her, where she was met with the amused faces of her friends and teacher.

They stood before her in a straight line, hands folded in front of them and hoods lowered so she could see their faces clearly, and bowed.

When they stood back up, Ursula was the first to approach.

She smiled kindly as she lowered herself to Akko's gaze.

"I know that it wasn't the same as the real thing . . . but I hope that-"

She was cut off by Akko throwing her arms around her neck and burying her face in the crook of her shoulder. Taken by surprise at first, Ursula sank into the embrace, wrapping her arms around Akko's back and holding the girl close. She could feel her shoulder growing damp with what she assumed was Akko's tears of joy.

Akko pulled away to look Ursula in the eyes, wiping at her glistening eyes.

"It wasn't the real thing, but it was better than anything I could've ever imagined," she assured her mentor, her voice weak and hoarse.

Akko released her grip and stood upright, looking to her friends, each of them smiling as well. Lotte, unable to restrain herself anymore, ran forward and wrapped her arms around Akko as well, who was followed suit by Jasminka, then Amanda shortly after. Diana, Sucy and Constanze merely watched in amusement, their minds reeling back to the time Akko had revived the world reconstruction magic.

Lotte sniffed and wiped at her eyes as well. "You know Akko, just because you couldn't see the comet, that doesn't mean it wasn't there . . . All that means is that you celebrate it in a different way. We hope this helped."

"More than you could ever think!" Akko exclaimed, having regained her usual brand of enthusiasm.

"Does this mean you'll be back in class tomorrow?" Jasminka inquired, her head tilted.

"You bet!"

Akko was then met with an arm wrapping around her neck and tugging her backwards, another hand playfully tussling her already messy hair.

"Good, 'cuz I was getting tired of your whole mopey dopey pity party," Amanda teased. "And you and I gotta practice more broom riding. It's been a while since anybody's challenged me!"

The brunette squirmed her way out of Amanda's hold and pointed a finger at her.

"You're on! Diana would be more than happy to ref another race of ours!"

"That's a very presumptuous statement, Akko. Also, a race does not require a referee. But merely a moderator."

"Aauuugggh! Don't ruin this!"

The group then fell into its usual session of banter and comradery, the likes of which Ursula hadn't witnessed for what seemed like forever. She stood back and allowed the girls to socialize to their hearts content.

Inside Luna Nova, Holbrooke smiled, looking forward to seeing a full attendance list tomorrow.

 _The next day_ ,

Diana fell into her usual routine of brushing her teeth, fixing a wholesome breakfast, wishing Barbara and Hannah a good day of studying, and making her way to her first class.

As she sat down, her eyes peeked down.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep off the smile of relief from her face at the sight of Akko in her usual seat, looking as eager as ever for another day of learning.


	8. The Part When the Beans are Spilled

After last night's performance, Akko came to many conclusions:

One of them was that she promised her friends that she would do her best to never let anything affect her that negatively or to make them worry ever again (though they remained skeptical on that last part, due to Akko's colorful track record of getting into trouble). Another conclusion she came to was how amazing her friends are.

She already knew she had some pretty incredible people in her life, but there aren't many people in the world who would go to the lengths that they went to just to make somebody else smile.

But these people who she called her friends were those kind.

The last thing that Akko declared was that, no matter how boring, or energy draining, or tear-your-own-hair-out frustrating classes could be, she was not going to miss another one.

Because she had _a lot_ of classwork to make up for.

The next day, she got herself out of bed and, with her usual cheerfulness, was prepared to take on the challenges that the day may or may not bring. She sat herself down in her usual seat and opened her notebook . . .

Only to realize that she had no idea what the heck the teacher was talking about.

Jotting down the notes regardless, Akko did her best to fill in the blanks. The young witch made a mental note to take up Lotte's offer of copying her notes afterward.

Once the final class of the day concluded, Akko, Lotte, Sucy, Amanda, Constanze, Jasminka and Diana all made their way into town and stopped at the café to celebrate Akko's return to form. They talked and laughed and swapped fairly mundane stories of today's lessons, followed up by Akko describing her favorite parts from their performance.

The girl was in her own world now as she described how she felt. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was eager to share how much it all meant to her.

Despite the evening growing late, the group stayed for as long as Akko desired, allowing her to spill her guts out to her heart's content. She deserved it, the others thought.

After finally finishing her drink, she let out a satisfied breath and deemed it time to head back to their rooms. As they walked, she hung her head low once she remembered the large amount of homework that she needed to catch up on.

As if it were rehearsed, Akko quivered her bottom lip and made her eyes as sparkly as possible until Diana finally agreed to help her catch up.

The brunette pumped her fist in victory.

Once they reached the school grounds, they all went back to their respective dorms, everyone wishing the other a good night's rest.

Akko closed the door behind her and the three of them began to wind down for the night, changing into their night gowns and preparing for sleep, though Akko was still struggling with calming her nerves down with all that has happened from the past two days.

Within a half hour, the three girls were in their respective beds, two of the three of them out like a light.

A smile not ready to leave her face until she was fast asleep, Akko silently thanked who or whatever it was that was looking out for her and gave her friends that she wasn't at all sure what she had done to deserve.

Her breath finally slowing and her heart beating at a calmer pace, she finally felt her eyelids growing heavier. Letting out a deep breath through her nose, she closed her eyes and mentally prepared herself for the onslaught of homework that was most assuredly coming her way in the next few days.

She could only imagine how much more she could possibly learn with the knowledge that the Yggdrasilians promised to teach her.

. . . Her eyes shot open faster than a bullet leaving the barrel of a gun.

Heart beating rapidly once again, she did a small jump in her bed once she realized that it had been nearly a week since the last time she had visited them.

Thankful that her stir hadn't disturbed her friends' slumber, Akko reworked tomorrow's schedule in her brain, making sure to head to the woods as quickly after classes had ended. She also thought that maybe bringing in at least one more bag of apples might appease their potential frustration at having been forgotten.

Akko's heart began to grow heavy with guilt at the thought of them waiting for her, prepared to teach her magic that only they knew how to do, but only to not have her arrive. Especially now that Simon's Comet has passed by the Earth, recharging the green boulder that she had put back into place.

 _Hmm, maybe two bags of apples would be better._

 _The Next Day_ ,

School had gone almost exactly as Akko had predicted it would that day - confusing.

Same as yesterday, due to Akko's absences, she was behind on her studies, leaving her virtually unprepared for any future assignments and tests. Thankfully, Diana was true to her word and assisted her in catching up.

Akko usually looks forward to lunch period, as it allowed her to socialize without having to worry too much about her classes for forty-five minutes (which always went by way faster than she liked). But after Diana's insistence, she persuaded the ever stubborn brunette that the fastest way to catch up was for the two of them to work together during lunch.

Seating herself next to Akko, Diana opened her bag and laid out her notebooks and worksheets, Akko following suit.

Taking stray bites in between her lesson, Diana grimaced in annoyance at Akko's sloppy table manners, wiping off stray crumbs of biscuit from the paper.

"Akko," Diana chastised, "please control your eating."

"Phorreh Dianah."

Diana grimaced again. "And don't talk with your mouth full. You're getting food everywhere."

Akko swallowed, then gave Diana a sheepish smile.

The young prodigy sighed, but felt no need to go further into her dining habits. This was a bigger fish to fry.

"Now then," Diana continued, "as I was saying, this symbol is the magical script of creation." She pointed to a specific spot in her textbook. " _Faefae Anupalla_."

" _Faefae Anupalla_ ," Akko repeated.

Diana nodded. "Very good." She pointed to another spot in her textbook. "If that was the ancient incantation of creation, then can you tell me what this one means?"

Taking in the clues that Diana laid before her, Akko nibbled another bite of biscuit and scratched her head in thought.

"D . . . Destruction?"

"Correct _. Faefae Anupalla_ and _Sobenebrei_ haven't been used since the age of Yggdrasil. Be sure to include this in your notes. It is almost guaranteed to be on the upcoming test."

Without question, Akko took in Diana's advice and scribbled it into her notebook.

Once she was done, she quirked her eyebrow in thought.

"If it hasn't been used since Yggdrasil, then why am I learning it?"

"It is important to remember our history, Akko. Though certain practices are outdated, they served as the stepping stones to the magic that we practice today. To forget them is to turn our back to what the nine witches gave us."

Akko nodded in understanding.

Taking a bite of her meal, Diana returned her focus to the book in front of her, swallowing before she continued.

"As for these incantations, one would require three leaves of basil, two drops of . . ."

Diana continued to list off the ingredients necessary for this specific concoction as if she had read it a thousand times before (Akko didn't immediately dismiss that thought). But as she went on, something else grabbed the girl's attention.

The cafeteria workers behind the serving counters hauled in a large basket of apples and oranges and set them on a table.

Her eyes widened and she stood from her seat, stopping Diana's lesson.

"Hold that thought," Akko requested before walking over to the workers.

Passing through the other students like a devoted shopper on Black Friday, she reached her destination, palms flat on the counter and her body leaning forward, earning the attention of the magical creatures.

"Are there still apples left over from the ceremony?"

 _Later_ ,

It took some coaxing, but Akko finally managed to get away from Lotte and Sucy for the evening. The former had wished to go into town once again to visit the bookstore, but the brunette convinced her that it would be ok to do so without her. Lotte did her best to change her friend's mind, but Akko, attempting to put her mind at ease, had told her that she would be catching up on schoolwork with Diana.

Somewhat disappointed at Akko's absence, Lotte and Sucy left for town.

In all honesty, Akko would love nothing more than to go with them. After everything they had done for her, she wished she could be there for Lotte to pick up the latest volume of Night Fall. She adored seeing the look on her face every time the next chapter was released.

But Akko had also known that the Yiggins couldn't be pushed aside any longer. They had been waiting for her for a week now and she hadn't so much as told them where she was. It was time to reconnect.

Akko wished Lotte good luck as the two of them closed the door behind them.

Waiting a few minutes to ensure that the coast was clear, Akko reached underneath her bed and pulled out two paper bag-fulls of fruit. Her peace offerings firmly in her grasp, Akko made her way to the exit. She barely made it a few steps outside until her grip started to falter.

Readjusting her hold and her stance, she did her best to hold the fruit in place, but she quickly came to the conclusion that she couldn't make this trek on foot.

Thankfully, she had a plan to remedy that fact.

One trip to her room and back was all she needed to grab her broom and make her way back.

Looping the handles around the end of the broom, Akko levitated off the ground, performing a fist bump as she successfully got airborne on the first try. Setting her sights on the line of trees before her, Akko gently flew into the forest, softly turning this way and that as to not spill her cargo or break the bags.

Not to mention that it was also solid solo practice.

She'd be kicking Amanda's butt in no time.

While she was smirking to herself at the thought of beating Amanda at her own game, she almost missed the entrance.

Slowly floating to a stop, Akko lowered herself to her feet and grabbed the bags. Before she lowered herself into the hidden entrance, she thought of what it was she was to do with her broom.

 _Would it be rude to leave it leaning against one of their walls?_

 _Wait! I got it . . ._

Flipping the broom bristle side up, she shoved the tip into the dirt until it stood on its own.

Nodding in approval, she wiped her hands together and picked up the bags, climbing into the hole.

The familiar earthy scent filled her nose the moment she touched the tunnel floor, bringing back almost nostalgic memories of her falling inside of it on accident during her first venture out to find them.

Hopefully they won't be too mad about her not visiting them. They could be surprisingly volatile . . .

Her small seed of anxiety slowly swelled with each step she took that brought her closer to the anteroom.

Finally, she rounded the final corner and found herself in their home.

At first, none of them noticed her enter. They were all focused on their tasks; each chore ranging from farming, to transporting food, and even building new housing developments and restructuring the still-damaged silo.

But there was something different about it all . . .

They were using real magic to help them.

The past few times Akko had come down to their home, they had been going about their chores with a much more physical approach; from digging holes with their own hands to plant seeds, to creating makeshift scaffolding so they could improve upon their homes.

But seeing them now, the way they dug entire trenches with nothing but a mere thought, and then lowering the seeds into their resting place was downright incredible.

Her awe is ultimately what gave her away as she didn't notice her grip failing her, resulting in her dropping the two bags and spilling the apples everywhere.

Every Yiggin stopped what they were doing and turned her way, their eyes growing wide in surprise.

Fully aware that all eyes were on her, Akko smiled and waved awkwardly, her shoulders shaking with each nervous chuckle she pushed from her chest.

"Hey guys. Eheh. Miss me?"

It took a few moments of nothing but awkward eye contact for the Yiggins to fully register who it was that was standing there. It almost reminded Akko of the first time she stumbled into their home by accident.

After a few blinks, one of the Yiggins pointed at her, his tiny eyes about as wide as they could go.

"She's back!"

With that, a collective cheer erupted, forcing Akko to cover her ears. The Yggdrasilians rushed over en masse to the girl's ankles and hugged them tight, their leaves tickling her legs.

Akko understood that these were legitimate intelligible beings who deserved respect and could sometimes be easily offended, but it was hard to restrain herself from releasing a coo of adoration when they were _so darn cute_!

They all huddled around her until she was surrounded by a puddle of green and brown. When they broke apart, some of them picked up the spilled bag of apples and brought them over to the fruit's designated spot while others hung around and bombarded Akko with a plethora of questions.

"Miss Akko, rumors had left us to believe that you abandoned us!"

"We knew you would never do that!"

"Does this mean we can start?"

"Did you die?!"

Akko waved her arms in a vain attempt to silence them. As soon as the chatter died down to a manageable level, she tried to come up with the best response for them.

"No, no, no. I'd never abandon you guys!" She rubbed her elbow. "Sorry I haven't been over in a while. Some stuff got in the way. But now-" She silenced herself once she remembered one of the questions that was thrown her way.

"What do you mean by 'can we start'?"

"I believe he means whether or not we can begin your training, Miss Akko."

Ears perking up at the sound of the familiar voice, Akko turned to see Tilly approaching the gathering. Her eyes lit up at the site (and her gut untangled itself from its worried knot after seeing that Tilly's face showed no signs of anger or frustration at her elongated absence).

"Tilly! What's up? It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Six days, seventeen hours and thirty-five minutes."

"Eheheh. Yeah." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm sorry about-"

"There's no need to apologize, Miss Akko," Tilly held up a stubby arm to silence the girl. "While we were growing restless during your absence, you are your own person with your own life to live. And after all that you've done for us, it wouldn't be our place to pass judgement on something as trivial as this."

Akko sighed, another weight being lifted from her heart.

"Besides," Tilly continued, "with how your busy your life is about to become, I felt it best that you spend as much personal time as possible."

Her head tilted. "Eh? How busy?"

Tilly smiled. "Follow me."

Akko obeyed, stepping over the congregated Yiggins carefully and making her way up to their leader, matching his pace at his side. The two of them walked along the winding dirt path until they came up to the large emerald stone.

The first thing that Akko noticed about it that the light emanating from it was no longer blinking slowly, but rather it held its glow consistently like a translucent bulb, the green glow reflecting on the soil around them and the ceiling above.

"Simon's Comet has made another pass around Earth," Tilly stated, unintentionally bringing up sour memories for the witch. "Our stone has been recharged; meaning our magic has been fully restored." To emphasize his point, Tilly reached his arm behind him and pointed directly at a Yggdrasilian who was carrying an apple to what appeared to be the storage hole.

His tiny eyes squinting in concentration, Tilly summoned the apple over to him, a shriek of surprise was earned from the Yiggin as the fruit was yanked from his hands unexpectedly. Akko would've felt bad for him had she not been so transfixed on what was happening.

The apple floated above the leader's head, a green aura surrounding it kept it afloat. Tilly, raising one arm, brought it down in an abrupt vertical motion. The apple, in response, was sliced clean in half as if it were chopped through with a freshly sharpened knife.

Akko blinked and step back in surprise. Inside one of the halves, Tilly dug out a seed. The tiny brown dot floated above the sliced fruit, only just visible to the naked eye if one were to squint hard enough.

The seed then slowly descended to the ground, digging itself deep into the dirt. The two halves floated down as well into the awaiting arms of two Yiggins. They caught their respective pieces and began to nibble at them.

Tilly turned back to face Akko, a smug look on his face as if he had performed a great feat; which, for all Akko knew, he just did. Before the stone was recharged, she doubted they would be able to do much outside of the most basic of magic.

Even during the first time she found one of them, after she flew off her broom and she was gently lowered to the ground, the Yiggin looked as if the task was too much for him and looked as if he would pass out at any given moment.

Akko blinked, unsure of what to say at the minimal demonstration.

Sensing her hesitation, Tilly laughed. "Don't worry, Miss Akko. Your training will go beyond the mere everyday levitation spell. You will learn spells and magic that haven't been seen since the days of the Nine Olde Witches."

The young girl rubbed the back of her neck.

"I've gotta warn you, I can be kind of a slow learner. I'll do my best though! You can count on that!"

Tilly nodded, clearly satisfied with that answer.

"Good. Now, let's get started with your very first lesson."

 _Meanwhile_ ,

Ursula's heart was aflutter with pride and a small trace of giddiness as she walked the halls of Luna Nova, passing by students who were preparing to settle in for the evening.

She had no idea the kind of impact it was going to have on her at seeing Akko back in class; to see her face so bright and eager to learn, no matter how much she may struggle with it. If there was one thing that that girl was good at, it was persevering.

And performing for her had delivered her a thrill that she had not experienced in a very, _very_ long time. Getting back onstage in her old costume opened the floodgates for an oncoming flood of memories of her very first performances.

But this audience was by far her favorite.

The teacher clutched a stack of papers that needed to be graded close to her chest as she strolled. Flipping through them until she saw Akko's name written at the top of one of them, she prayed that she would be able to give it a passing grade.

Shaking away her doubts, she was reassured by reminding herself that as long as Akko puts in a hundred percent of her effort every single time (which she knows she does), then she'll do nothing except get better over time.

Turning a corner, she saw Lotte and Sucy sitting on a bench together, the blonde haired girl halfway through what appeared to be the newest addition to the Night Fall series she knows she loves.

But she was slightly taken aback by Akko's absence from the group.

She would never have passed up an opportunity to be with her friends unless something more important came up.

And Ursula knew that there was nothing more important to Akko than her friends.

The blue haired teacher came to a stop in front of the two girls.

"Good evening, girls."

Lotte looked up from the book and Sucy appeared to have snapped out of her bored trance, the former smiling brightly.

"Hello, Professor!"

"Where's Akko?"

"She said something about getting extra lessons from Diana. I'm surprised that Diana's been able to stomach her inability to retain information for so long," Sucy sniggered, earning a protest from Lotte.

Taking no mind to the comment, Ursula thought back.

 _Strange. I had just passed Diana a few minutes ago. But I didn't see Akko with . . ._

Shrugging it off for now, the teacher wished Lotte well on the book and continued on her way over to her office to begin grading her papers.

Her previous elation having vanished, Ursula couldn't help but wonder about Akko's whereabouts.

 _At the same time,_

When Tilly mentioned that they would begin her very first lesson, Akko wasn't all too thrilled to learn that it was a _history_ lesson.

She understood the importance of learning history, but it was never among her strong suits.

Yet, she retained her professional composure as she sat cross-legged in the dirt, taking in Tilly's words as well as she could.

"There are very few people, heck, very few _beings_ in the world who are aware of Yggdrasil's other location in the world."

Akko's head tilted.

"Yggdrasil was in two places at once?"

"Not quite," Tilly corrected. "More so, it has existed more than once. Its first location was set in the southernmost part of Africa. But, due to humanity's lack of knowledge of magic, combined with the fact that those who practiced it were burned alive," Akko gulped at that last part, "it wasn't utilized for much magical use. Therefore, the first Yggdrasil faded from history."

Akko's eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Then how did it come back?"

"Well, what do all plants start off as?"

Great, a botanical question. Although, this one seemed pretty easy . . .

"A seed?"

"Correct. Yggdrasil was a magical being, but it was plant-based nonetheless. The seeds of the first Yggdrasil found their new home and were buried, giving birth to the Yggdrasil that we come from."

Akko could barely detect it, but she could've sworn that she saw a small scowl on Tilly's face.

"And the same one that witches killed with their overuse of magic."

Taken aback by the comment, Akko was about to refute the accusation, but Tilly continued.

"Yggdrasil would still be alive had they all not gotten greedy. It would still be standing proud and tall for another five thousand years. That's where you come in, Miss Akko," Tilly's sudden malice had melted away. "With our help, you will learn a more conservative way of harnessing magic and spread that knowledge all over the world. You will be the poster child for the new wave of magic."

Akko twiddled her thumbs together nervously. "But . . . it's not the witches faults that Yggdrasil-"

"Look at where you are right now, Miss Akko," Tilly interrupted. "You are literally sitting in the previous home of Yggdrasil, and the cause of its death is right across the forest!"

Akko blinked.

"L-Luna Nova?"

"Not the school itself, but those who reside inside. The teachers, filling those student's heads full of nonsensical gibberish of what they think is real magic. But then . . . there's you, Miss Akko. Every student inside those walls have previous magical experience, but you are most certainly a special case."

Akko's heart began to beat faster. She wasn't all that sure what exactly that was supposed to mean.

"Due to your lack of experience, you were a clean slate. An untainted specimen that is more than ready to learn our way of magic. We can't even begin to count the amount of blessings that have been bestowed onto us because of you. But there's a problem."

Tilly walked over to the green stone that was idly humming. Inside, an image flickered and swirled to life, taking the likeness of the Sorcerer's Stone.

"One can't spread knowledge of magic across the world with this over glorified triple A battery. You'll need something bigger. Something fairly more . . . traditional."

 _Meanwhile_ ,

Ursula's stomach began to speak to her as she walked, leading her to the decision to swing by the cafeteria as she made her way back to her office.

Stepping inside, she made her way over to the counter, where the magical workers bustled about on the other side. Their backs to her as they worked, Ursula politely waited until they noticed her, not wishing to disturb their workflow or conversation.

"Has anybody heard what was decided on for next Monday's dinner? I kept hearing it was a tossup between lasagna and fried maceral," one goblin asked his fellow workers.

"It's fried maceral," another confirmed, earning a sigh from another.

"Again? We're gonna run the ocean dry of 'em with the amount that we serve here. What about dessert?"

"That day is cook's choice. If you guys don't mind, I was going to make an apple tart."

The others shrugged. "S'ok with me. So long as we have enough apples."

"That Kagari girl took a good amount, but we should still have enough."

It felt like a fist made of ice seized Ursula's heart at that moment, her grip on her papers faltering.

 _Akko not with the others . . . taking fruit along with her . . ._

Caught in the moment, Ursula dropped her bundle of papers and made a beeline for the exit, leaving a cluster of confused cafeteria workers in her wake.

 _At the Same Time,_

Akko stood in front of the group of Yggdrasilians, her back to them as she looked at the flickering image inside of the green stone. Tilly observed as well as it changed from the Sorcerer's Stone into three individual coiled sticks, each of them no longer than an inch and a half. Her audience behind her looked from the three coils over to Akko, then back and forth and back and forth again, as if they were expecting her to do something with this information.

Stunned to silence, Akko could only listen to Tilly as he described what they were.

"The Seeds of Yggdrasil. After the magic is depleted, three seeds are formed and wait for someone to plant them once again. It has happened before, and now it is ready to happen again. And the person who is going to be responsible for it will be you, Miss Akko. Now then, do you have any questions before we continue?"

It felt as if her arms had been filled with lead as they drooped to her sides, her knees weak and her jaw slack.

Tilly had been offering her a long overdue explanation for what seemed like an eternity. The further the leader of the Yiggins went along in his speech, the more and more Akko attempted to deny what she was hearing.

But there was no possible way to misinterpret this.

Rather than ask a question as Tilly had openly invited, she could bring herself to do nothing more than to say it out loud, as if it will help her brain wrap around it all.

"You're going to build a brand new Yggdrasil . . . With Luna Nova as ground zero . . ."

Tilly positively beamed upon hearing this.

"And you say you're a slow learner," he giggled lightly. "With your contributions, Yggdrasil will be fully grown come sunrise. That's when the fun will begin, Miss Akko. We will waste no more time and dive head first into our lesson plan. You will master broomless levitation by next week, be able to summon anything from around the world – provided that you know where it is, of course. Magic is all powerful, not all knowing after all. And by the end of the month, the entire country will know your name.

"Your celebrity status will rival that of Shiny Chariot's ten thousand fold! The new wave of witches will appear in no time, with you as their inspiration. Believe you me, Miss Akko, this Yggdrasil will be around for generations to come. And it is all thanks to-"

" _Murowa_!"

The incantation left her lips with so much venom that she was surprised that she hadn't poisoned herself.

In an instant, the ground at Tilly's feet exploded in a flurry of flying dirt clods and dust clouds. He was propelled back and landed in the dirt a few feet away. Pushing himself back to a standing position, Tilly's surprised eyes gazed at the teenage girl, whose wand was poised and prepared to attack at a moment's notice.

"Like hell I'm going to help you! Had I known about any of this I wouldn't have even bothered coming back! I won't let you get away with something like this!"

Tilly blinked, thoroughly looking unprepared for this turn of events.

"So," he started, noticing that all the Yiggin's eyes were on him, waiting for him to make some sort of move. "You don't wish to help us?" He attempted to clarify.

Akko rolled her eyes. "Of course not! Luna Nova is my home! It's a part of who I am! I'm not going to have any part in destroying it and I'm most certainly not going to plant those seeds for you!"

Tilly twiddled his stubby arms together.

"Well, this is most awkward." He cleared his throat. "You see Miss Akko, the thing about that is . . . You already have."

 _Meanwhile_ ,

Ignoring all the strange looks she was receiving from students and her fellow faculty members, Ursula tore through the halls at a frightening pace. She ignored her burning lungs and propelled herself onward until she came across the relic room, the large pillar in the center standing tall and proud, housing an assortment of trinkets.

Wasting no time, Ursula grabbed the enchanted ladder from its resting spot against the back corner, leaned it against the pillar, and willed it to lift her upwards.

She came to a stop at the very shelf she was looking for, the three wooden coils sat there, undisturbed, same as before.

Unsatisfied, she reached forward and grabbed one of them, bringing it close to her eyes as to determine its legitimacy.

Immediately, she noticed the wooden texture it was supposed to have against her skin was not present. Rather, it was cooler and hard.

In her haste, she readjusted her footing on the ladder but overcompensated. Losing her grip on the coil, it plummeted twenty feet down, her hand outstretched in a vain attempt to save it.

But the moment it struck the ground, it confirmed her worst fears.

It shattered upon impact against the concrete floor, little brown shards scattering all around.

Her heart seized once again; her eyes as wide as saucers.

 _They're fakes._

Not even bothering to have the ladder lower her down safely, she leapt from her perch and landed clumsily on the floor.

Ignoring the sharp pains in her ankles, she rushed out of the relic room and up the closest set of staircases she could find.

 _At the Same Time,_

Once again, the image inside of the green stone flickered and changed. This time, rather than a static image, it displayed a familiar scene; Akko and Ursula walking down the courtyard with two bucket-fulls worth of fish, making their way down to the Fountain of Polaris.

Akko, taken aback once again, watched the stone with rapt attention.

 _They've been . . . spying on me?_

"You see, Miss Akko," Tilly began as the scene continued to play out, "we've run into this problem in the past. A young, aspiring witch fell into our midst, but she too wished to back out at the last moment. She even stole the Seeds away from us. We were forced to flee our old home and set up camp here."

Akko listened to Tilly's confession, but couldn't find the strength to look away from what was unfolding before her.

"If you think about it, it is rather an amusing coincidence. The very day one of my scouts successfully switched out the real Seeds with decoys was the day of your impromptu broomstick race with that O'Neil character. He made it back, but, unfortunately, we knew we would be unable to sneak in a second time. That would simply be pushing our luck."

In the stone, Ursula and Akko drew closer to the Fountain's entrance.

"We couldn't risk being seen by the faculty, lest we blow our cover. But, if we were to find someone who could walk through their halls without anybody so much as batting an eye and have them do it for us . . . well, no doubt you can see the convenience of that scenario. And thankfully, fate appeared to be on our side that day. We were given you."

Ursula stepped inside the ancient entryway and Akko followed closely behind. But the moment before Akko entered, the image drew closer to Akko's form.

"And with your assistance, Miss Akko, we were able to cut out the middle man."

The image inside the stone zoomed closely to Akko's feet. The moment before her foot stepped inside, a nearly imperceptible thin figure crawled out of her shoe. She immediately recognized it as one of the three coils.

Crawling like a worm along her shoe, it dove into the ground and dug itself into the soil, vanishing completely.

The scene inside the stone shimmered until it changed once again, this time it showed Akko along with Lotte, Sucy, Diana, Amanda, Jasminka and Constanze, the red head assisting Akko with her broom flying.

Once again, a tiny sliver of movement directed her attention to her foot, where another Seed crawled its way out and wiggled into the dirt, the small group of teenagers none the wiser of its presence.

Finally, the stone showed her what appeared to be the entirety of Luna Nova sitting outside in the late evening, awaiting the comet's arrival. Akko could see her inconceivably anxious face amongst the crowd. But, like the previous two, the stone zoomed in on her shoes.

The final Seed crawled out and leapt into the lawn, vanishing entirely from sight.

With nothing left to show, the images inside the stone swirled away, reverting itself back to its original state of dormancy.

The scenes had finished playing in front of her, but they were constantly playing on repeat mode inside Akko's head.

This whole time . . . _This whole time_ . . .

"You've been . . . Using me?"

"I wouldn't particularly put it _that_ way," Tilly carefully worded. "I'd say that you have been helping us."

Akko physically couldn't even bring herself to look at Tilly. Her gaze was still fixed on the stone in front of her.

"You've been lying to me all along . . ." Her voice was distant, hollow.

"Now wait just a moment, Miss Akko. Not once ever did we lie to you."

Akko finally found the strength to tear herself away from the stone. "No, but you just so _happened_ to leave out the part when you destroy the school and you felt like you didn't need to bring up the part where I'm the one who ends up being responsible!"

"Responsibility is a key to controlling magic, Miss Akko. Coming to terms with these actions will significantly improve your ability to manipulate magic," Tilly reasoned, as if he were explaining how two and two equaled four.

"And what about my teachers? What about my friends?! Everybody's still in there!"

Tilly smiled, looking genuinely excited to explain this part.

"Oh, there's no reason to worry about them. Yggdrasil will simply be their new home. And in a way . . . they will always be with you. You'll be able to think of them with every swish of your wand."

Akko's heart plummeted.

"I'm going to be using them like batteries?!"

Detecting the outrage in her voice, Tilly stepped forward, starting to appear impatient.

"Those witches in there have no trouble using the leylines as if they were batteries. It's the same basic principal. Now, Miss Akko, this is my final time offering." His voice was affirming and showed no signs of regret or remorse.

"Are you going to help us?"

"NO!"

Her answer came just as quickly as the words left Tilly's mouth, her voice echoing all around the walls. Nostrils thinned to nothing more than two slits and her hand white-knuckling as she gripped her wand, Akko commenced an all-out staring contest with the leader of the Yggdrasilians, daring him to make some sort of move.

Tilly's response was nothing more than a disappointed sigh.

"Alright."

 _FWIP_.

In the heat of their argument, Akko failed to notice a root emerge from the ground and slowly raise itself until it was level with the girl's hand. It flicked itself and dislodged the wand from her grip. Akko let out a surprised guffaw and clumsily attempted to catch it, but only succeeded in pushing it farther away from her.

Before she could even attempt to make a mad grab for it, the root swept low and knocked Akko's feet out from under her, sending her sprawling flat on her back.

Groaning, she rubbed her sore back and pushed herself up on her elbow, but only made it that far before the entire tribe of Yiggins dogpiled on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

She fought back as best she could, blindly swiping her arm left and right in a petty attempt to knock them off. The only thing she succeeded in was scraping her hand against their wooden bodies and scratching her face against stray twigs.

Finally, she found herself unable to move, her energy officially spent.

Akko was splayed out helplessly on the ground, arms and legs pinned down with no hope of breaking free.

With a few halfhearted struggles, Akko felt two feet walking up her leg and stopping on her stomach. Looking up, Akko found Tilly looking down at her.

Giving a nod, the Yiggins responded by lifting the girl off the ground and carrying her backwards as a pack of ants would for a fallen crumb.

Unable to see where they were taking her, Akko had no choice but to meet Tilly's gaze.

"Please don't make the same mistakes as Miss Du Nord did. She could've avoided the ridicule she faced had she done what we asked of her."

Akko's eyes went wide.

"Y-You knew Professor Ursula?" Her voice was choppy as her body was jostled this way and that.

Tilly responded in what she assumed was a snort of amusement.

"Is that what she's calling herself now? Well, it'll be certainly fun to catch up with her tonight."

Before Akko could say anything remotely threatening back, she found herself sequestered inside of one of the tunnels. Tilly leapt off of the girl moments before the Yiggins tossed her inside. She came to a clumsy halt and landed face first in the dirt.

Growling in frustration, Akko planted one hand on the ground to push herself upward, but nearly jumped out of her own skin when another root began to wrap around her wrist. She squealed in fright as more poked out of the ground and held her securely in place.

She squirmed and grunted tiredly, but she found herself unable to break free.

The Yiggins exited the tunnel and reentered the anteroom, watching Akko.

"Don't worry, Miss Akko. Once you see Yggdrasil restored, you'll come around. I'm sure of it."

"I'm gonna use you like a toothpick!"

"Charming. See you in the morning!"

With a raise of his hands, Tilly willed a wall of dirt to rise up from the ground and seal off the entrance, drowning the restrained girl in total darkness, her cries of protest cut short once the twelve inch thick wall was fully grown.

Dusting off his hands, Tilly returned his attention to his fellow Yiggins.

"I believe now is a good enough time to get things started. Everyone form a circle."

Letting out a jubilated cheer, the small tribe did as they were told, forming a circle in the middle of the room, hand in hand with Tilly in the center. Akko's cries of protest were barely audible behind the mounded wall of dirt, but it wasn't enough to break their concentration.

After a few moments of Tilly murmuring incantation after incantation under his breath, their chests began to glow a brilliant green. At their feet, a system of roots snaked their way around their tiny bodies and slowly pulled them into the dirt until their bushy afro-like leaf hairs stuck out from the ground like misplaced shrubs, then vanishing underground altogether, leaving the entire anteroom in silence, save for Akko's squirming and curses behind the wall.

 _At the Same Time,_

Her heart was pounding, but she hardly even noticed.

Her lungs were burning, but she didn't at all care.

She was receiving even more strange looks from passing by students, but that didn't matter.

"Please! Head outdoors!" She would insist to them as she ran, but all she succeeded in was leaving a trail of befuddled students in her dust.

Finally, the door she sought after came into view.

Without so much as knocking, the instructor all but kicked it in, startling Professor Holbrooke to her core.

"M-Miss Ursula? What on Earth is the matter?"

There was no time for anything else. Explanations would have to come later, she decided.

"Professor Holbrooke, we must get all the girls out of the building this instant!"

The elderly professor blinked. "All of them? At this time? But we haven't-"

"There's no time to ask questions! I'm begging you, we must-" Her plea was cut short once movement behind the window at the end of the room caught her attention.

Her blood ran cold once she figured out what it was.

But she could do nothing as the behemoth-sized root zoomed straight in and shattered the window, wrapping itself around Professor Holbrooke's ankle.


	9. The Part When Akko Soars

Before either of the instructors could even begin to process what was happening, the massive root had successfully taken hold of Holbrooke's ankle and gripped it tightly.

"What in the-"

She was unable to finish her inquiry due to her elderly form being dragged out the shattered window faster than she was able to let out a surprised squeal.

Ursula could only watch in fright as her employer vanished outside, her shrieks growing quieter the farther down she went.

Her feet finally finding the strength to move, she darted to the other side of the office and peered her head out of the window, wary of the lingering shards of glass.

Ursula peeked out in time to see Holbrooke still plummeting to the ground, the root still wrapped tight around her ankle.

Moments before the root brought her to the bottom, four massive pedals broke out from the grass, each of them opening wide as if it were a venus fly trap. Ursula was only able to watch helplessly as Holbrooke fell inside of it, its gaping maw shutting tight once it detected her presence.

Not another moment later, the pod retreated back into the ground, a mound of dirt left in its place.

Her heart threatening to hop out of her chest at any moment, Ursula gripped the windowsill, her breath hitching in her throat and a cold sweat running down her brow.

For what seemed like forever, nothing else happened.

Until a flash of green light poured out from where the pod descended. As soon as it dissipated, she was just able to see a system of roots and vines snaking their way up the school's foundation in a slow, threatening pace.

She wasn't sure if it was her mind playing tricks on her, but Ursula was also almost certain that she could hear the stone cracking and breaking from the pressure.

The only thing that was able to tear her concentration away from the growing vines was the roar that echoed through the night.

Looking in the direction it had come from, her heart fluttered with hope as she found the familiar hulking white body of her childhood friend dashing through the courtyard and making his way to the school.

Arcas let out another roar, his eyes dead set on the impending vines that looked prepared to swallow his home.

He galloped across the lawn, sending a spray of grass and dirt up in the air behind him as he went until he was tripped up by a vine that jutted out of the ground. It swept low, taking out his front paws and sending him sprawling forward, his massive weight digging into the ground and leaving a trail of grounded dirt in his wake.

Shaking away his disorientation, the polar bear attempted to lift himself back up, but was dragged down by more vines wrapping around his body. The gentle giant growled in agitation and gnawed at the roots wrapping around his paws.

Arcas successfully tore off a few and flung them across the yard, but his efforts were in vain as another set wrapped around him.

Ursula's hope fell dead on arrival as another set of pedals rose up and devoured Arcas in an effortless gulp, dragging him into the ground just as it had happened to Holbrooke mere moments before.

"Arcas!"

In her dread, she barely even noticed another flash of green rise up and vanish just as quickly. In response, another wave of vines and roots went crawling up the foundation, burrowing into the brick and wood.

Another set of shrieks broke her out of her horrified trance, this one coming from behind.

Whipping her head around, she was just able to see a panicked set of students run by, screaming at the top of their lungs.

All but leaping over the desk, Ursula went back out to the hallway and found it filled with girls barreling out of their rooms, a system of roots creeping out from behind the doorways and through certain spots in the floor.

The girls hopped and leapt out of the way of the protruding roots, the panic that seized their hearts making them unable to think clearly as they ran about.

Ursula took this as her cue to step in.

One of the girls tripped over the root and fell face first to the floor, no one else appearing as willing to lend a hand to her.

The instructor barreled down the hallway and helped her to her feet. Making sure she was alright, Ursula lifted her chin and found the other girls still running amok.

"Everybody stay calm!" Ursula's voice only barely managed to reach their ears amidst their screams. All eyes turned to the teacher, each of them filled with terror and the need of direction.

With no time to think of a safer option, Ursula went with the first idea that popped into her head.

"Stay together and follow me!"

With none of them coming up with a plan themselves, they each did as they were told in the hopes that maybe they would be able to get out of this safely.

With the horde of worried students behind her, Ursula made her way to the end of the hallway until she was met face to face with another window; this one significantly smaller than the one in Holbrooke's room, but it'll do nonetheless.

Raising her wand, she summoned a massive gust of air that all but shattered the window, leaving not a single shard along the edges.

Nodding in satisfaction, she lifted her wand and turned around to see the worried students behind her.

"Everybody down!"

Doing as they were told, the girls hunched down with their hands covering the back of their heads.

Once she felt that no one would be harmed, she went through with her plan and swished her wand through the air.

Upon command, every single door in the hall were all but ripped clean off their hinges and flew towards her in a single file line.

Lowering herself to the floor, Ursula allowed every door to fly overhead and out the window. It was hard to keep her concentration however as the group of girls found themselves unable to hold in their terrified screams.

The line of doors was nearly halfway out of the building, each one swooshing overhead, sounding more like blades on a fan on high speed.

Finally, the last of them flew out of the window and into the late evening air. Standing back up, she poised her wand out the broken window and took aim to the floating doors. With a flick of her wrist, the doors shifted from vertical to face down. Eyebrows scrunched in concentration, Ursula willed the doors to form a floating set of stairs from the window all the way to the ground.

She whipped her head back to the startled students.

"Now's your chance! Get to the ground and run to the forest! Don't look back! Go!"

Not needing to be told a second time, the first set of girls rushed forward and cautiously stepped out of the window, carefully balancing themselves on the first door.

One at a time, the girls went from door to door, getting closer and closer to the ground.

Ursula ushered the next set of students out the window, followed up by the next set, and then the set after until there were none left in the hall.

Waiting until she saw the final student leap off the last door, Ursula relaxed her arm and allowed the makeshift staircase to fall to the ground.

Wiping off her perspiring forehead, Ursula smiled as she saw the last of the students make their way into the line of trees, hoping against hope that they might be even remotely safe there.

Now came the next step: getting herself out.

Holding up the doors for an extended period of time had nearly drained her dry of any energy, so remaking those steps were definitely not an option anymore.

Her concentration was interrupted as a new set of roots began to envelope the window. Staggering back in surprise, Ursula watched as the outside world became blocked off by a system of healthy roots five inches thick.

Whipping her head in the other direction, she found her access to the remainder of the hall blocked off as well. As she assisted the students in their escape, she had failed to notice an entire wall form behind her, composed of twisted vines and thick roots that also stemmed off and snaked along the walls, the wallpaper and insulation behind it beginning to crack.

Her footing began to worsen as well, the thick foliage at her feet providing her with no safe access to a flat surface.

She rapidly looked in both directions, wracking her brain and trying her best to come up with the best route to take.

Before she could come up with any viable options, the roots in front of her began to shift and twist amongst each other, taking a rather obscure shape of an oval. Inside, when she looked at it hard enough, she made out two vertical lines and a straight line underneath.

Her heart skipped a few beats once she realized that it was beginning to form a face.

It skipped even more once the crude facial features began to move.

The lines at the top blinked a few times and the mouth curved into a wicked smile.

"Oh my goodness! Hello there, Miss Du Nord."

 _Meanwhile_ ,

It was hard to tell while being smothered by nearly total darkness, but Akko was fairly certain that she was beginning to see black spots dance in her vision due to the vines hugging her tightly around her ribcage, locking her securely to the ground.

Her teeth were grinding and she was grunting out very unwomanly obscenities underneath her breath as she struggled against the pull. Panic began to seize her mind the more and more she fought against it.

Her mind began to come at ease once she came to the realization that these roots were not intended to kill her. They were merely here to keep her in place until they were ready for her in the morning.

Although she wasn't in any real danger, she still wasn't too keen on being trapped here as those lying saplings destroyed her school.

She looked left, then right, then left again, trying desperately to find something that could aide her.

But without her wand to lend assistance, she found nothing that would help her out of her predicament.

Her body relaxed in an attempt to catch her breath, but the immense pressure against her ribcage made it difficult to take in full gulps of air. She laid her head back against the dirt, almost on the cusp of admitting defeat.

Once they free her in the morning, she'll come up with some way to free her friends . . .

She hoped.

But it was hard to be optimistic at a time like this; as was attempting to come up with a valiant rescue mission while the life was slowly being squeezed out of her by a bunch of sentient, magical plants.

. . .

 _Magical_?

She only just realized that her eyes began to slowly droop closed the moment they popped back open, her mind forming a desperate game plan.

Looking down at her wrists, she found them entwined tightly to her sides like a straightjacket.

A newfound sense of determination washing over her, she took in as much air as she could get and began wiggling her body once more, focusing her efforts on her arms.

She wiggled herself left and right and back and forth, dirtying her already filthy uniform all the while.

After several minutes of more struggling and more grunting, she managed to break her right had free from their grip.

Wasting no time, the brunette gripped at another vine and tugged with all her might. It was awkward to do so with the poor amount of leverage that her current position offered her, but before long, she had successfully snapped off a piece of the root.

Bringing it close to her face to get a better look at it, Akko nodded in approval once she noticed traces of green lingering inside of it.

 _If these roots possess magical properties . . . Then this might just be stupid enough to work._

Raising the piece of root in the air while doing her best to avoid a new arm growing out from the ground to take its place, Akko's eyes closed in concentration.

" _M-Metamorphie Faciesse!"_

One puff of smoke later, the form of Akko was gone, and in her place was a tiny field mouse with overgrown ears. The roots that had previously held her captive were wailing about, trying to find their target once more.

Capitalizing on the root's confusion, Akko made a beeline for the dirt wall that obstructed her path. Stopping at the base of it, she eyed it up and down before taking a look at herself.

 _There's no way I'm getting anywhere like this_ . . .

Her makeshift wand still held clumsily in her tiny paws, she waved the root and incanted once again.

" _Metamorphie Faciesse_!"

Another puff of smoke later, the field mouse was replaced by a Scottish Terrier with blue spots and light brown fur.

Although it wasn't quite the breed that she was aiming for, Akko deemed it worthy enough of getting the job done.

Trying not to focus too much on the roots slithering about, Akko raised her paws and began to dig at the wall in front of her. To her delight, the dirt crumbled fairly easily beneath her paws. She panted and dug in a steady rhythm to keep up a fast enough pace so she could escape in time.

She didn't even have to look over her shoulders to see the roots closing in on her.

Ignoring them, Akko continued to dig, well aware of the fact that if she were looking at this from an outsider's perspective, she would've found the site of a lap dog pawing at a wall the most adorable thing in the world.

The vines drew closer to her tiny ankles, and even closer still . . . but at that moment, her paws fell into open air.

Her heart back flipping with joy, Akko barreled her head forward and plowed through the opening she had created, clumsily rolling on her face but inside the anteroom nonetheless.

She sprang back to her feet and immediately found her wand exactly where they left it after it was swatted out of her grasp. Akko took off like a bullet and scooped it up in her teeth the moment she was able to.

Swishing it through the air as if it were a chew toy, Akko concentrated as hard as she could on the spell, hoping that it would also work in her thoughts.

Thankfully, her efforts paid off as she once again vanished in a puff of smoke and reemerged as her regular human self, her wand still clenched tightly in her teeth.

Once she realized she was back in her old body, Akko fist bumped the air before sheathing her wand and hightailing it out of the anteroom.

She still had friends to save.

Her mind kept flashing her an awful amount of images of what Luna Nova may look like at this very moment, but she shook them away and continued on her path.

No amount of paranoia was going to keep her from her friends.

 _At the Same Time,_

"Please stay in a single file line! Maintain a safe distance from the school and await further instruction!"

It didn't take long at all for Diana to step up and assume a leadership role in the midst of the chaos. As soon as the students on her level had caught wind of what was happening, they were quick to turn to her for guidance.

Fighting back the creeping fear that was bubbling in the pit of her own stomach, she put on the bravest face she could and led the entire floor down the steps and to the front entrance, avoiding the growing limbs and branches out of the walls as they went. Once they all reached the large double doors, Diana held the door wide open and allowed the students to spill out as if the flood gates had busted open.

Despite the cries of anxiety, she did her best to make her voice heard.

"Leave all that you have behind! It's much too dangerous to go back inside!"

Somehow, in the ocean of terror-stricken students, Diana managed to find the familiar pink and blonde hair of Sucy and Lotte making their way over to her.

Diana was about to advise them against speaking with her for the time being, but it was too late. Lotte had already gripped her hands tightly against the fabric of Diana's uniform. Her footing staggered against the sudden weight and she almost lost her hold on the door, but she held onto it with one outstretched arm as the sea of students stampeded around Lotte and Sucy.

"Diana, has Akko gotten out?! We haven't seen her since earlier!"

The young prodigy would love nothing more than to quell her friend's anxiety, but couldn't come up with an answer that wouldn't hinge on false hope.

"I have yet to find her. Don't worry, I am certain she is unharmed."

"She fought against a missile last year," Sucy drawled. "If that didn't kill her, then I doubt this would either."

Diana nodded (though she could see the worry lingering in Sucy's eyes). "She's right. Akko is one of the toughest people I know. She can take care of herself."

Lotte agreed wholeheartedly, but still found it hard to be optimistic.

In response, Diana drowned out all the noise surrounding them and gave Lotte a genuine, comforting smile. "And I know you know this too."

She finally got a nod out of the blonde.

"Now, get to safety," Diana's protective instinct retook her demeanor full throttle. "Follow the others and don't look back. I'll regroup with you and the others when this all blows over."

"But what if-"

"Go! Now!"

Flinching back, Lotte nodded again and finally willed her feet to move. Her and Sucy promptly vanished into the fray once more.

Pleased she was able to even remotely appease the worried girl, Diana returned her attention to the evacuation once more. Still doing her best to keep herself calm, she was relieved to see that the crowd was thinning out, but there were still quite a few students to make it out the door yet.

If things kept moving at this pace, then the majority of the school should be outside and safe.

It was right when she conceived her optimistic thought that she noticed a fissure form in the ceiling.

The pressure from the ever-expanding system of branches becoming too much for the structure, the walls themselves began to crumble and falter. A near earsplitting cry of panic erupted from the frightened students and resulted in them spilling outside at a faster, unsafe pace. Accidental jabs and elbows to the sides were thrown in the midst of the chaos.

"Please remain calm!" Diana yelled, this time falling upon deaf ears. "Everybody please just-"

Another fissure formed in the ceiling, this one sending a cloud of dust and drywall raining down on the students.

Diana's blood froze once a chunk of the ceiling broke loose and plummeted to the floor, directly in the path of petrified students, too struck with fear to move their legs.

Her hand took on a mind of its own as it let go of the door, clutched her wand in a white knuckle grip and took aim.

Despite her heart being seized by panic, Diana flawlessly incanted the strongest levitation spell she knew.

Her balance unsteady and her center of gravity poorly founded, she nearly fell over once her wand caught the falling debris.

The stunned students were shaken out of their trance and gaped at their savior, whose forehead was beginning to perspire from the strained effort.

"Go! Now!"

The last of the crowd had filed out, leaving the door wide open for them to escape.

Diana breathed easier once they vanished outside.

Before she could set down the debris, she took notice of a branch slithering out of the hole that was created in the ceiling. Her nose crinkling in disgust at the site of it, she wasted no time swinging her arm upward and flinging the chunk into the sentient branch.

It squirmed and writhed on impact. Diana took small pleasure in its pain and ran the opposite way.

She didn't make it a single step outside before a root wrapped itself around both of her ankles.

Falling forward, she broke her fall on both of her arms, her forearms taking the brunt of the impact.

Looking behind her shoulder, she found the root in question that had wiggled itself out of a hole in the floor that she had somehow neglected to notice. Gritting her teeth, Diana did her best to stand herself up, but the root tugged her backwards.

Her heart beating faster than a chugging locomotive, Diana dug her fingers into the floor, but that did little to stop her from being dragged backwards against her will. Out of the floor, more petals emerged. They opened up and awaited Diana to be placed inside like the others.

"Yo! Hands off the princess!"

Looking up, Diana found Amanda running towards her across the yard through the still open door, her eyes full of rage and determination. Had Diana not been in a very compromising position, she would have scoffed at the stubbornness.

But that didn't stop her from rolling her eyes.

"Amanda! Stay back and get into the-"

"Shut it, would ya! I'm saving you!"

Knowing that it would be absolutely pointless to argue with the jock any further, Diana did the next best thing.

Raising her wand, she took aim at Amanda. Her spell was barely audible as she struggled, but it was enough to summon enough magic to engulf Amanda, stopping her in place and lifting her off of her feet. Swishing her arms and legs in the air in a vain attempt to lower herself back to the ground, she cursed under her breath.

"The hell are you doing?! You're gonna get yourself killed!"

With another strained effort, Diana flicked her wrist, willing the magical aura surrounding Amanda to carry her backwards towards the forest.

Though she was a fair distance away now, Diana was able to hear Amanda promising that, if they survived this, she was going to kick her . . . well, Diana was fairly grateful she wasn't able to hear that last part.

Outside, Hannah, Barbara, Lotte and Sucy had congregated together at the base of the forest, asking whether or not they have seen their missing teammates.

Immediately after, Amanda fell at their feet, startling them out of their inquiries.

Pushing herself up to a sitting position, Amanda cursed some more, her eyes glued to the academy's entrance. "I'm gonna kill her!"

Following her gaze, the small cluster of students were just in time to witness Diana being swallowed whole by the massive petals before the entrance became entirely blocked off by the still-growing system of roots and vines.

Hannah and Barbara wrapped their arms around each other and squealed in terror, now totally lost without their leader. They both fell to their knees and bawled their eyes out, leaving Lotte to comfortingly rub their backs in a last ditch effort to soothe their worried minds.

Amanda rose to her feet, looked up, and dropped her jaw at the sight.

Being in close proximity to the school had hindered her view of the school, but from this far back, all of the students were able to take in the horrifying scene.

The entire school had all but vanished, the outside of it wrapped entirely by massive tree trunks and outcropping branches that still continued to climb upwards.

"Whoa," was all that Amanda was able to say at the moment, having totally forgotten about her failed attempt to save the drama queen.

The sun was officially behind the horizon now, leaving the moon and stars to take its place. But a good majority of the stars were entirely blocked out by the massive tree, creating an ominous silhouette that did nothing more than grow higher and higher into the air.

Despite the darkness, Amanda and the others were able to see leaves beginning to bud out from the tips of the branches and cluster together like an enormous shrub. Massive creaks and cracks were heard, more than likely caused by the walls of Luna Nova collapsing from the pressure, followed shortly after by more groaning and whining from the stress the building was facing.

And it killed every single student who was observing this, each of them unsure if there was really anything they could do to help stop.

But, thankfully, they didn't have to. The faculty members have already taken action.

Noticing a whoosh above their heads, Amanda and the others looked up to find Professors Nelson and Finneran on their brooms, their wands raised and ready for use.

Nelson hovered herself closer to her fellow educator.

"But what if some students are still in there?"

"All we're doing is slowing it down," Finneran reassured. "It'll buy us enough time to go inside and find anybody left. Besides, by my count, most of everybody is out already."

"Still no sign of Holbrooke," Nelson reminded her.

"I'm sure she's with the students, but there's no time for this. Let's head up there!"

Agreeing that little time was left, Nelson relented and followed Finneran to the smothered school. She came to a stop on one end while Finneran flew to the other, turning a one eighty so they were facing each other.

On Finneran's cue, the two of them raised their wands above their heads, the tips of them glowing blue and white.

"Now!" Finneran called out, prompting the two of them to propel themselves forward.

The moment the two of them shot forward, the blue aura from their wands began to trickle downwards and float in the air until they snagged on the leaves. The magic feeding out of their wands as if it were a roll of tape, Nelson and Finneran continued on their course, passing by each other, reaching the end of the line.

Without a single command having to be issued, the two instructors turned themselves around and went again, then again, then again once more; each lap they made resulting in more and more of the top of the tree to be smothered in their magical net.

The two of them persisted, their arms growing weak from being raised for some time. But they ignored the fatigue and continued to zig zag around the tree as if they were wrapping the world's largest Christmas present. Wind was flying too quickly by their ears for them to hear the cheering and hollering from the students bellow.

In what both seemed like forever and a mere second at the same time, they were nearly halfway done with their task.

Inside the school, however, Ursula's arm was also growing wary from the amount of swings she was throwing at a rapid fire pace, casting magic as quickly as a bullet leaving a gun. But the magic she threw the face's way was blocked harmlessly by a passing by entanglement of branches acting as sentient arms.

But that didn't deter Ursula from doing her best to kill this thing.

The face in front of her, while at first appearing genuinely pleased to meet Ursula once again, now seemed to be disappointed in the whole altercation (and maybe even a little bit bored). With every swish of her wand, a tentacle-like branch was there to block the blast with no effort at all.

Her teeth clenched tightly and her forehead damp with sweat, she continued her barrage, resulting in an eye roll from the face in the wood.

"Miss Du Nord, please," the face admonished. "I don't see any reason for-"

"Quiet!" The young instructor snarled, not breaking a single stride in her attack. "After all the lies you told me, after every spell you claimed would benefit me, you have no right to show your face!"

Her words reinvigorating her energy, she took two steps forward, her arm moving at a faster pace now. A bolt of her magic passed through the tentacles and struck the face.

Blinking in surprise, it summoned more branches to protect itself. But the outraged teacher was far from finished.

"Despite what you promised me, I've made a life for myself; a better one than anything you could've provided me!" Her bolts grew faster with every step forward she took, concern now written on the wooden face before her. "The invaluable things I've learned, the incredible people I've met, I'm not going to let you take it all away!"

The face blinked again. "That's quite amusing. Miss Akko was just saying something similar."

That did it. That brought Ursula to a screeching halt a mere few yards away from the now smug looking face. Her breath hitched in her throat and her weariness caught up with her, causing her head to spin in all directions.

Taking full advantage, the branches zoomed forward and wrapped themselves tightly around Ursula's body, her feet being lifted off the floor.

Her access to air was nearly entirely cut off, but that didn't stop her from struggling with all of her might.

Unfortunately, all of her might wasn't enough to break herself free.

Instead, as she was held suspended in the air, she was forced to watch as a closed up pod emerged from the floor, identical to the ones that have already gobbled up Holbrooke and Arcas. Ever so slowly, the petals opened wide.

"You don't have to worry about Miss Akko, Miss Du Nord. Once she comes around, she will become an exceptional witch. She shows great promise. You should be proud in all honesty."

The branches entangling her body brought her forward into the awaiting maw of the pod at an agonizingly slow pace.

"And the best part," the face continued, "you'll still be with her every step of the way."

Struggling despite knowing the futility of it, Ursula could do nothing as the petals closed around her.

 _Meanwhile_ ,

Outside, Finneran and Nelson were putting the finishing touches on their trap.

With a few more zig zags and crisscrosses, the two of them flicked their wrists and halted the flow of magic from their wands, the tail ends of their wispy forms floating gently downward until they came to a rest atop the adolescent tree.

Nelson floating in place, Finneran flew up beside her as they both observed their on the fly handiwork.

The top of the tree was covered from end to end, looking more like an overflowing salad bowl with saran wrap covering the top of it. The leaves underneath the layer of protection fidgeted and pressed against the shield in what appeared to be agitation and impatience.

The two professors caught their breaths and rested their aching arms, both of them trying their best to determine the best course of action from here.

Unfortunately, they didn't come up with a plan of action quickly enough.

The leaves underneath went from a state of agitation to what looked like rage, blowing against one another as if they were being blown mercilessly away by a hurricane. Before either of them could do anything to quell it, the leaves pushed upward, going against the wispy shield with all of its might.

Their insides twisting themselves into a knot of worry, Finneran and Nelson slowly backed away from the tree, both of them growing wary by the second.

Like a balloon swelling up to the point of bursting, the tree continued to rise exponentially, the shield being stretched to its limit.

Exchanging a quick look, the two teachers silently agreed that it was time for them to get out of there.

But the tree burst through before they could even turn around.

The shield tore away with explosive force, the magic built up inside of it being released in a tidal wave of power. The force of the blast too great for either of them, both Finneran and Nelson were flung off of their brooms and launched into the air.

It took all of the students' strength to grab hold of one another and stand their ground against the gale-force winds.

It had happened so fast that the two of them hadn't even fully realized that they were tossed away like ragdolls until a few seconds after the fact. However, they didn't have enough time to even attempt to reach their brooms again due to two vines reaching out from the top of the tree and wrapping around their waists.

The students down below were forced to watch as their instructors were pulled somewhere inside the tree, which began growing higher and higher into the air with zero signs of slowing down in the slightest.

 _Meanwhile_ ,

Ignoring the scrapes and slices across her face from the occasional branches and twigs as she rose out of the forest, Akko, with an all but white knuckle grip on her broom, shot out from the top and rocketed herself towards the direction of Luna Nova without a trace of hesitation.

The cold air whipping by the small cuts on her face stinging as she flew motivating her all the more, Akko's gaze never turned away from her destination, hoping that not too much damage had already befallen on her school.

Tree after tree passed beneath her at breakneck speeds, her mind slightly at ease knowing that she was rapidly approaching the school. As she rode, she couldn't help but recall the time her, Diana and the others rode into the sky to take down the grief-stricken missile not too long ago.

The memory of the near-traumatizing added a necessary boost of motivation to her already pounding heart, the victory she and Diana achieved together making her believe that she might even be able to come out of this situation on top as well.

Her self-motivation session was cut short by what appeared to be a tidal wave crashing into her in midair.

Before she could even comprehend what it was that was approaching her, a wide line of a swirling mass of blue and white cascaded over the trees like a category five storm and blew the helpless girl backwards with no added effort.

Swirling backwards as if she were in a blender, Akko hugged herself close to the broom, eyes closed all the while and screaming at the top of her lungs.

In the midst of her tumble, she had entirely lost sight of the school, a blur of dull blue the only thing she was able to see.

After what felt like an eternity, Akko fell back into the forest. Her broom struck tree after tree, almost throwing her overboard and spilling her to the ground. Finally, she met the ground and rolled end over end until she came to a stop on a hard surface, her legs splayed up in the air awkwardly.

Moaning, she rubbed the back of her head and patted the ground around her in search of her broom.

Her vision still swimmy, she managed to find her broom. But before she could lift herself up and take position on her broom, her sight returned to her, and she was able to clearly see what exactly it was that she was propped up against.

 _At the Same Time,_

Most of the students had retreated farther into the depths of the forest in search of possible refuge from the monolith that had entirely enveloped their school, save for a select few that still found themselves unable to move their feet.

Those select few included Amanda, Constanze, Jasminka, Hannah, Barbara, Sucy and Lotte, who all stood their relatively slack jawed, gaping up at the massive tree with no plan or even idea as to how to slow it down.

They had seen a few of their teachers make their best attempts at stopping its growth, and had also seen how well it worked out for them.

It often took a lot to dampen their spirits to the point of total defeat, but this appeared to be what it took for them to reach that specific point.

Especially with their resident bright eyed optimist factory currently missing in action.

None of them knew how long they had been standing there for, nor how long it had been since the surrounding student body had fled into the woods.

They just stood there, watching the behemoth rise higher and higher into the air.

And for the longest time, none of them were at all willing to break the silence.

At least until a peculiar fluttering noise reached Jasminka's ears.

Snapped out of her reverie, the pink haired girl looked to the sky, trying to find the source.

Catching sight of her friend's unease, Amanda turned away from the tree and addressed her.

"What's up, Jas?"

"Do you hear that?"

Not expecting that question, all of the girls tuned their ears to hear anything that was out of the ordinary. For the first few moments, none of them heard anything strange outside of the cracking and shifting of the growing botanical wonder or the collapsing walls of the school.

But after a few more seconds, they all began to hear the same thing.

None of them were able to explain what it was, as it hadn't sounded all that familiar . . .

At least to anyone else besides Constanze.

The fluttering grew louder and it was accompanied with a dull rush of air. They could each feel a rumbling in the ground that reverberated into their chests.

The dull roar grew louder as the rumbling grew more and more intense. It was as the noise grew louder that they all came to the same conclusion that whatever this was, it was coming from behind.

Almost in perfect unison, the girls turned around and looked up just in time to see a large black blot sail directly overhead, a trail of white and blue magic trailing behind it as if it were a wake being created by a speed boat.

Amanda's jaw dropped even farther once her mind caught up with her eyes, remembering exactly where it was that she had seen that before.

Constanze's ship, long since presumed lost, emerged from the top of the trees and was on a collision course with the tree. The rushing air from the aircraft blew over them violently, forcing them to adjust their footing as to not fall over. When they lifted their heads back up, they found the ship growing closer and closer to the tree.

If the eye twitch of Constanze was any indication (which none of them really needed), they all reached the same conclusion as to who exactly was piloting it.

Lotte clasped her hands together excitedly, a spark of hope igniting an inferno of hope within her.

"Akko!"

Sure enough, the brunette stood atop the deck, both hands gripping the steering wheel with her broomstick tucked behind her in her sash. Her hair was whipping behind her as she flew forward.

The moment the school was able to come into her field of view, her heart plummeted into the pit of her gut.

Once she had literally stumbled upon the ship that she had lost in the woods, she thought the hardest part of the night was going to figure out how to start the stubborn thing back up. It was pretty banged up from its impact, so she wasn't anticipating it to be easy; but one would be surprised how far an equal amount of stubbornness accompanied with a never ending sense of urgency and a false sense of hope (along with a few stray kicks to the hull for good measure) can get you.

As soon as she heard the engines whir to life, she grabbed hold of the wheel, took to the sky, and launched herself forward. It was a good thing that it didn't take much to start, because she wasn't at all planning on landing it regularly.

This was going to take more than a written apology to get back on Constanze's good side . . .

Ignoring the stern look that she was picturing the young genius giving her, Akko flew towards the school . . .

Or at least where the school once stood.

It has since been replaced with the adolescent form of Yggdrasil, which was stretching higher and higher into the air. By Akko's rough guesstimation, it must be over three hundred feet high by now. She shook her head clear of any intimidated thoughts and reset her resolve, allowing the ship to carry her closer to the tree.

If she listened closely, she was only barely able to hear the whoops and cheers of encouragement from the students down below (it only took her a brief moment that those noises were coming from none other than her friends, save for Constanze more than likely). Using the cheers as fuel to her fire, Akko twisted the steering wheel and angled the bow of the ship on a direct collision course with the tree.

The sensation of her stomach rising into her throat giving her confirmation that the ship was doing as she willed, Akko let go of the wheel and took hold of her broom behind her back, untangling it from her sash.

Wasting no time, Akko ran across the deck and jumped over the railing, allowing herself to plummet.

The only thing that was louder than the wind rushing by her ears was the crushing impact the ship made when it struck the tree, its entire frame and body being demolished to nothing more than splinters, the remainder of it warped in unnatural and unsalvageable angles as it crashed into the ground.

Her insane plan proving to work in her favor, Akko took sight of the hole that had opened up within the top of the tree.

With the ground rapidly approaching, she decided that now was the best time to activate the second part of her plan.

Straddling her broomstick as she fell, Akko ignored her impending demise and focused solely on the broom itself.

" _Tia Frerye!"_

With no problem at all, the broom slowed her descent to a calmer pace until she floated in one spot.

The cheering from below grew louder from Amanda in particular, who was no doubt thrilled seeing Akko have little issue in piloting the broom all on her own now.

Akko spared a brief moment to salute her friends before aiming the tip of her broom at the hole in the leaves, which was now closing up fairly quickly.

Leaning her body forward, Akko willed the broom to fly ever faster towards the opening. As soon as she cleared the majority of the courtyard, Akko surprised herself when she felt her hands push up off of the broom and lift her to her feet, surfing the broom toward the tree and closer to the vanishing opening.

She knew that she needed to time this astronomically perfectly, but she also knew that if there was one thing that she could count on, it was her amazingly dumb luck.

As soon as she deemed herself close enough, Akko leapt from her broom, propelled herself forward into a horizontal nose dive, and flew perfectly inside the tree moments before a new patch of leaves sealed the entrance.

Swishing her wand in a wide arc, Akko sent a gust of air downwards to soften her fall. She succeeded in softening the blow, but failed miserably in making it a graceful landing.

Catching her body of the air she sent down, Akko misjudged the distance to the first limb beneath her and lost her footing the moment they touched, sending her into another tumble head over heels until she came to a stop against what appeared to be the trunk.

Her eyes were closed in pain as she rubbed the sore spot on the back of her head, mumbling more curses to herself. But through her closed eyelids, an orange light penetrated through. She slowly opened her eyes and was met with the upside down image of what appeared to be an amber-colored oval embedded within the bark, protruding out ever so slightly like an eyeball.

Zipping immediately to her feet, Akko took up a defensive stance with her wand outstretched in front of her, clutched in both hands and ready to strike.

"M-Miss Akko?"

Before she could release her first spell, she was caught off guard by a familiar high pitched voice coming from above. Taking her eyes off of her target, she looked just above it and was met with two beady eyes and a mouth just beneath it that appeared to be in a shocked o.

If looks alone were able to kill, there would be a smoldering hole in the trunk right now.

After a few moments of stunned silence between the two, Tilly's shocked face melted into one of what appeared to be pride.

"I knew you would be a resourceful witch with time, I just knew it. Only the smartest of-"

Akko cut him off with a swing of her wand, sending a blast of magic his way. Before it struck him however, his face vanished and the area around it returned to how it was, the magic exploding harmlessly against the bark above the amber capsule.

Her brow furrowing in confusion and frustration, she heard the wood behind her twist and warp. Looking behind her, she found Tilly's face looking up at her from the limb she stood on, his face now etched with disappointment.

"Miss Akko, can't you see-"

"Stop calling me that!" Akko finally snapped. "Miss Akko this, Miss Akko that. I'm not important enough to be called Miss! And how do you still not get it? Luna Nova is my home! I'm not going to let this overgrown weed take it away from me along with everyone I love!"

To show she was not bluffing, she pointed her wand at the amber capsule once more, the tip glowing blue and ready to release the built up magic inside. Akko smirked to herself when she saw the fear cross over Tilly's face.

"Oh, b-but Mi- Er, A-Akko, I'm not certain you'd like to do that. Especially to your childhood hero."

The magic fizzled away in an instant at the same speed that Akko's heart plummeted into her stomach.

She took a closer look at the amber capsule in front of her and adjusted herself so she could get a better look. Walking closer to it to avoid the glare, Akko's fear was confirmed when she made out the image of a silhouette inside. The closer she got to it, the more the image inside cleared out.

Inside was undoubtedly Professor Ursula, eyes peacefully closed as if she were asleep.

Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened in horror. On pure impulse, Akko looked up and found another amber capsule up top, this one placed underneath a limb so it was able to look down at Akko.

She could feel her feet nearly give out from under her when she realized that Diana was inside of that one. Her well-kept dress and elegant wavy hair a dead giveaway.

When Tilly had told her of their plan to use everyone's magic as a source of power, she did believe him, but couldn't picture it.

Seeing their plan come to fruition face to face was just about more than she was able to handle.

The higher she looked, the more and more amber capsules she was able to see, each of them no doubt holding more of her teachers and more of her friends captive inside.

Beneath her feet, she could feel the rumbling of the tree, telling her that it was still not done growing bigger. But she couldn't bring herself to do anything at the moment; the image of her mentor being used as nothing more than a battery still acting as a freshly opened wound on her spirit.

For a brief moment, Tilly felt remorse for the events that were transpiring. He never wanted to see his successor hurt like this. Granted all of this was a necessary step in giving Yggdrasil life once again, and despite Akko's previous outburst, he had held out hope that she would see that this was actually for the better.

He let out a sigh, now looking content with the fact that he'd have to wait a little bit longer.

"I know it hurts now, Akko. But please give it some time."

The words never reached Akko's ears. She was too numb from the shock to let any info in at this point. She finally gave in to her wariness and collapsed to her knees, her head bowed in defeat.

Tilly gasped again. He was losing her.

"B-But please look at it this way! No one will be able to deny your magical skillset anymore. Yeah, that's it. You'll be held in the highest regard in the magical community. And with school out of the way, you'll no longer have to waste time on the more mundane aspects of witchhood. No school gatherings, no homework, no . . ."

Tilly continued to list the seemingly never ending entries of pros of allowing him to destroy her school, but only one of them made its way through to Akko's blocked off consciousness.

Homework.

She slowly lifted her head, eyes widening as the memory of Diana walking her through her homework with her just a little while ago came racing back to her.

With each passing second, the brunette found her strength and will returning to her. Though it was based purely on a gut feeling, an idea formed in her head.

Akko stood up, cutting off Tilly, who now looked up at Akko in shock.

"M-Miss Akko?"

"I told you not to call me that."

Her voice was quiet and fierce, taking Tilly off guard.

Tightening her grip on her wand, Akko swished it at her feet and released a gust of wind from it that propelled her upwards faster than Tilly could get a response out.

Mouth opening in shock, Tilly's face vanished from the limb he and the brunette were on and reappeared on the next level, where Akko had just landed.

"Miss Akko!" He ignored her previous request out of pure habit. "What're you-"

He had no time to finish his request as Akko launched herself up to the next level. With each limb she leapt up to, Tilly's concerned face was there to meet her, doing his best to persuade her out of whatever she had in mind.

But Akko was in no mood to listen at the moment.

She leapt higher and higher, passing by more students and faculty members who were trapped within their own amber capsules, unwillingly giving their own magic to the tree. Her heart ached with every face she recognized: Professor Holbrooke, Nelson, Finneran, even Arcas had his own above average capsule.

But she had no time to let their confinement affect her. She kept climbing higher, getting closer and closer to the top of the ever growing tree. With every level she reached, Tilly's face was there to meet her, growing more and more frustrated and agitated as they went.

"Miss Akko, please! Would you . . . Just listen to . . . Why won't you . . . STOP!"

With only about fifty feet to go, Akko's ankle was caught in a vine, halting her progress and nearly causing her to drop her wand. Looking up, Akko found Tilly's impatient face embedded in the bark before her.

"Just what is it you're attempting to accomplish?" He asked firmly, sounding more like a parent scolding their hard headed child.

After a few brief pants to catch her breath, Akko smiled calmly.

"I just want to make the whole world smile."

Saying nothing more, the girl vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

Tilly blinked in surprise, looking left and right, but failing to find the girl. Instead, what he found was a tiny field mouse with a devilish grin on its face. He quickly put two and two together, but it was too late as the mouse dashed forward and traversed up the trunk, making extra sure to climb over Tilly's face as she went.

Now officially done, Tilly willed even more vines to appear. One after another, they each dashed forward, attempting to catch the tiny mouse. But with precise timing, Akko managed to dodge them, dashing to the left and to the right, wincing as the vines made violent contact with the trunk.

Despite her small stature, the young mouse was making fairly good time on her way up to the top, ignoring Tilly's cries of desperation as she went.

She got closer and closer to the top, the once thick branches now thinning out.

Her heart leapt in joy when she was finally able to see the night sky.

Digging her paws into the bark, she leapt upward with all of her might, avoiding the last of the sentient branches and rocketing toward the top of the tree.

In another puff of smoke, Akko changed back into her normal self, reached her arms as far forward as they could go, and wrapped herself around the tree's top like a koala bear.

"No!"

In one last act of desperation, Tilly sent another volley of vines upward.

But before they could even wrap themselves around the girl, the young witch raised her wand straight into the air, and as loud as she could she yelled,

" _Arbourore Sobenebrei!"_

 _A/N: Okay, this chapter was originally going to be a little longer still, but after seeing this word count, I figured this was a good spot to cut off. I didn't want the average chapter length to be in between 5 and 8 thousand and then have this one be 11,000. That would just be weird . . . right? Or is that just me?_

 _Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! This was another one that I've had mapped out for a while now. And after this one . . . there's only one chapter to go._

 _I genuinely hope that you've enjoyed reading this thing and please remember to drop off a review!_


	10. The Part With Akko's First Lesson

Ten agonizing minutes passed by since Akko sailed inside the behemoth tree. Constanze herself was surprised that she wasn't as concerned over the loss of her ship (again), but more found herself occupied with the thought of whether or not her friend was alright.

She only took comfort in the fact that she wasn't the only one who was worried.

She, Amanda, Jasminka, Hannah, Barbara, Lotte and Sucy found themselves unable to move from their spots at the edge of the forest, their eyes all but glued to the spot where Akko entered. They hardly even noticed the crowd of students that had gathered around them, each of them having seen the ship fly over their heads, compelling them to head back to the school grounds and see the new development for themselves.

That was all ten minutes ago. But to every one of them, it felt like a lifetime.

Every remaining student and faculty member were now waiting on the lawn, anxious to see the fate of their school.

After another gut-wrenching wait, they got their wish . . . Although they all wished that they had also been wearing sunglasses to view it.

What none of them were prepared for was the blinding orange bolt of light shoot from the top of the tree and into the sky. The girls rubbed the black blots out of their eyes fast enough for them to see a foreboding black cloud form directly over the tree.

Taking a few cautionary steps backwards, the crowd of worrying women, young and old, prepared themselves for what they assumed was the worst case scenario.

As soon as the cloud grew into a miniature cumulonimbus, orange flashes of light were seen coming from inside, each of them accompanied with a rumble of thunder. Once the flashes reached its apex, which was on par with a child obnoxiously turning a light switch on and off repeatedly, the energy being built up was released in the form of another lightning bolt, this one striking the tree.

A flurry of charred woodchips and leaves flew in every direction from the point of impact. A moment later, the orange light traveled down the tree into the ground and lit up the lawn, revealing the complex system of roots beneath their feet.

Almost as quickly as it came, the light died down until the moonlight was all that was left lighting up the night, the black cloud atop the tree having dissipated completely.

And just like that, what started out as a somewhat peaceful night returned to its somewhat peaceful state.

The sound of twigs and sticks and branches cracking and snapping together had ceased entirely, giving them the indication that the growth of the tree had come to a stop. As relieved as all of them were to have come to that conclusion, none of them were sure what to do with the fact that there was still a large tree standing in the same spot where their school was.

Thankfully, that issue seemingly remedied itself.

It took about half a minute in order for anything significant to be noticed, but sure enough, they were able to see little flakes floating away from the tree. The deterioration began at the scorch mark left by the lightning strike; the bark surrounding it grew a sickly shade of black and began to spread all around the trunk and traveled along the branches.

Before any of them knew it, the previously healthy tree had looked as if a thousand years' worth of aging had caught up to it. Once it looked like it could no longer support itself, its many appendages began to flake away and blow off like ashes in the wind.

The process continued until the entire sky was littered with the dead tree flakes. The more and more that filled the air, the less and less of the tree that remained: a feeling that should've reignited hope inside everyone's hearts, but instead it only revealed another issue.

Over half of the tree has vanished, allowing everyone to see the wreckage that was waiting inside of it.

From what they could tell from where they were standing, the entire roof had all but collapsed in on itself, taking a good few sections of the surrounding walls with it. The east and north wings had taken the brunt of the damage, leaving next to nothing left of what was standing there before. The entire perimeter was littered with wood, glass and brick, making it appear as if a significant battle had taken place.

It very well could have been the case as far as they were concerned. The heartbroken students were unsure of what to do as they gazed upon the sad sight before them.

The only thing that was able to distract them from the wreckage was a series of movements at the base of the disintegrating tree. None of them were sure when they were placed there, but somewhere during the process, a cluster of large, egg shaped pods were placed at the bottom, each of them amber colored and transparent; at least transparent enough for them to see human shaped silhouettes residing inside of them.

Amanda nearly jumped back in alarm when Hannah and Barbara broke free from the crowd of students and made a mad dash towards one of the pods. Jasminka and Constanze were quick to follow and Lotte and Sucy weren't far behind them. Before she knew it, Amanda was also sprinting across the lawn, followed by a still unsure crowd of onlookers.

Before they even reached one of the pods, the base of the tree had blown away, revealing every last bit of destruction that was waiting inside of it. But none of them chose to focus on that at the moment.

Rather, they halted in front of the amber containers.

Hannah and Barbara gasped and clutched each other tightly out of fear once their eyes fell on their leader. Lotte let out an audible shriek of alarm as well once she recognized the form of Professor Ursula inside one of them as well.

Soon, all of the remaining students crowded around, more than a few of them letting out cries of alarm as their eyes found someone they knew who was trapped inside them.

No one was certain on how long they had stood there gawking at the pods, but they were all broken from their trances when an impatient voice penetrated from the crowd.

"Step aside! Step aside!"

Professor Lukic, who had successfully managed to avoid the grasps of the magical branches and escort a large number of students to safety, emerged from the crowd, a fish bowl containing a frightened Professor Pisces in her grasp (at least they assumed she was frightened. A fish's emotions are hard to read based on facial features alone).

The crotchety instructor held the fish bowl aside, prompting one of the students beside her to gingerly take it in her grasp. Once her hands were free, Professor Lukic unsheathed her wand and waved it in a horizontal stroke. " _Camembrium_!"

The incantation was greeted with a blue spark that emitted from the tip of her wand. A moment later, a wave of blue magic flew forward and crept its way into each individual pod like a sponge absorbing water.

A few seconds ticked by before any of the students saw any difference. But sure enough, the pods before them began to thaw out. Starting at the very top, the amber colored wax dripped down and pooled in the grass. Steam rose up from them as they dissolved, releasing a hissing noise. Finally, the amber had all melted, the limp figures inside falling to their knees and onto their sides.

The first of them to move was Arcas, whose pod was understandably much larger than the others'. After a few seconds more of unconsciousness, the giant polar bear stirred in his sleep and slowly lumbered to his feet, his eyelids blinking droopily. A few of the students closest to the front let out quiet shrieks of discomfort at being in such close proximity to him, as barely any of them had shared any contact with Arcas in the first place.

They were especially startled when, after he was done licking off remaining slime from his snout and fur, he nearly dashed over to Professor Ursula's side.

Sniffing her face and satisfied to detect signs of life, he lapped his tongue against the side of her cheek, licking her face like a dog who was excited to see his master home.

Lukic observed with a smile as the method provided a positive result. Ursula let out a grunt before her own body stirred awake.

Slowly opening her eyes, she was face to face with Arcas' leathery, wet snout.

Of course, she had no choice but to smile in gratitude and cup his face in her hands.

"Hello, old friend. I didn't know I ordered a wakeup call . . . especially this late in the evening."

Lotte clasped her hands together and suppressed a squeal of euphoria at the sight. Sucy merely smiled and snorted in faux disinterest.

Unable to control herself any longer, Lotte ran forward, plopped down to her knees in the soaking wet grass and wrapped her arms around her teacher's waist, hugging her close. Ursula had no qualms of returning the gesture.

The two of them jumped in surprise as two voices shouted out in complete unison. "Diana!"

To the side, Lotte and Ursula barely had time to see Diana, who had only just pushed herself up to her knees, get tackled into an embrace by her privacy-challenged teammates. Shocked at first, and rather uncomfortable lying in the orange muck, the young prodigy found herself wrapping her arms around the two girls and smiling in spite of herself.

It didn't take long after that for the whole scene to dissolve into one big reunion.

Lukic stepped forward and assisted Professor Holbrooke to her feet, the latter offering her sincerest gratitude.

Professors Nelson and Finneran held onto each other for stability as they stepped out of the goop, both of them checking to make sure the other was alright. They were both delighted when two students stepped forward and offered them their broomsticks back.

Then it all fell into students and teachers hugging and thanking goodness that the other was alright. Ursula smiled when more of her students approached and helped her to her feet.

Before she knew it, she herself was swarmed by her students.

"I'm so happy you're alive!" Jasminka called out.

Ursula expected nothing less than a smile and a thumbs up from Constanze.

Lotte only just let go of her waist as she rose to her feet, wiping away a tear.

"Glad to see you lived, teach!" Amanda curtly announced her relief. "Without you here, I don't know if we'd ever be able to keep Akko outa trouble."

The mere mention of her name shattered their reunion like a stained glass window.

One by one, their eyes all went wide in realization, including Amanda's herself who had just realized what it was she had said a few moments after the words left her mouth. Diana too had asked herself where the brunette had gone too, breaking away from her teammates' embrace and joining the incomplete group.

Ursula and Diana both exchanged glances, and based off of the look in each other's eyes, they were both thinking the same thing. While they were in their respective unresponsive states, they caught brief moments of the events transpiring within Yggdrasil.

They both remembered Akko exchanging with a face etched into the bark, but after a few brief moments of said exchange, she had vanished.

The next thing they knew, they were on the ground, smothered in orange goop and surrounded by their friends.

But Akko was still missing.

Lotte released her grip on the young instructor and turned toward the wreckage, an action that was quickly followed suit by the others.

Over the bustling activity, Ursula could hear Finneran's strict voice call out something about taking a head count as to ensure that everyone is safe.

Ursula and the others knew that, at least at the moment, that count was not going to be complete.

Ignoring the instructions to group together as to begin the count, Amanda stepped forward and began to climb the small mountain of broken brick and wood before Ursula could so much as tell her not too.

Though deep down, she knew that she wouldn't have listened.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" She called back, still carefully traversing the hazardous terrain. "Akko's gotta be in here somewhere!"

Needing no other forms of encouragement, Lotte and Sucy were the next to follow. Shortly after, Constanze and Jasminka began climbing next, leaving Diana and Ursula to exchange another look with each other before they both started the climb as well.

Like clueless spelunkers, the young women spanned out and searched over every nook and cranny they came across. The farther up they got and the more they explored, the more their hearts sank at the site of it all.

But they all understood that now was not the time for any of those thoughts. What needed to be done was ensuring Akko's safety.

And it thankfully didn't take too long for them to find her.

Amanda scaled one of the piles of rubble and peeked over the top. What was on the other side was a downward slope that lead to a crater that was more than likely the school's library if she was positioning it correctly in her mind's eye. Once she got a good look over the top, she did a double take as to make sure that her eyes weren't fooling her.

It didn't appear they were, for there was Akko herself who, save for some barely visible cuts and bruises, looked to be unharmed. She stood with her back to the jock, her eyes locked on something in front of her.

Amanda was about to call out to her friend, but decided against it once she saw what it was the brunette was looking down at.

Rather than distract the girl, Amanda instead silently waved down the rest of the search party, directing them to her location.

The young women did as they were bid and huddled with Amanda, peeking over the edge to find Akko. Lotte's face lit up almost as bright as one of her faeries, but then fell into confusion once she saw the small, sprite-like creature a few feet in front of her.

Ursula's face was virtually unreadable. Her heart felt nothing but relief at finding her student safe and sound, but that relief was conflicted with the sight of the Yggdrasillian who stood in front of her, his back turned to the brunette and down on his knees.

The red haired instructor threw all caution to the wind and began descending down the slope, much to the worry of the girls behind her.

If Akko or the Yiggin had any idea that Ursula and the others were now present, neither of them showed any signs of acknowledging it. Their backs remained turned to them, none of them appearing to be saying a single word to the other.

Ursula reached the bottom and walked a few steps forward . . . then stopped once her eyes befell on the Yiggin in full.

Tilly, still on his knees, had his stubby arms held out. Resting on top of his arms were the three seeds that destroyed the school in a matter of minutes.

Then, like the tree itself not too long ago, the seeds began to flake away, slowly disintegrating and blowing away until there was nothing left in his grasp.

He closed his eyes sadly and let his arms fall limp to his sides.

"I don't get it . . . I simply don't get it," he almost whimpered. "That's twice now that witches have thrown away the chance to revive magic. To bring it back to how it used to be." His voice never once raised itself above a barely audible breath, allowing Akko to fully grasp his dejection.

The plant creature continued.

"I thought that it was what you would've wanted. What she would've wanted as well. But . . . What am I missing here?"

Akko couldn't find it in herself to interrupt the rant. She felt like this was one of those scenarios where it just had to be let out naturally.

She allowed him to continue.

"You would've been given everything. Praise, fame, glory, the iconic status of the Nine Olde Witches themselves for having been responsible for bringing Yggdrasil back! To be the new Shiny Chariot! Isn't that what you wanted?"

Akko remained silent.

"It doesn't matter now anyways." The Yiggin sadly lamented, the leaves atop his head rustling against each other as he bowed his head low. "Without the seeds . . . Magic is destined to wither away with them."

Ursula more than remembered the tribulations that the Yggdrasillians had put her through when she had first encountered them, but she had to admit, seeing one of the last remnants of Yggdrasil itself so downtrodden clenched her heart with grief.

The tense air surrounding them grew silent, leading Akko to the conclusion that Tilly had gotten it all out of his system. She soaked in the words he poured out of his soul and digested them the best she could, the meaning behind it all striking Akko over the head harder than the time Lotte struck her with the spell to allow her access into Sucy's mindscape.

Her eyes widened in response.

"Wow," she all but breathed. "You don't get the point of magic at all."

Of all the responses that Tilly had mentally prepared himself for, of any of the comebacks that he was sure Akko was going to throw his way . . . that was one he was _not_ prepared for in the slightest.

Turning himself around, Tilly looked up at Akko.

"What?" He asked, officially flabbergasted.

Tilly looked Akko in the eye, and was surprised to see that there was no sign of judgement inside of them. No sign of any malice or resentment to be found.

They looked sad.

And that was the truth. She was sad. Sad that this being, with such close ties to the original source of magic, had no clue what it was all about.

"You think that magic _has_ to come from someplace. That it _has_ to be from some never-ending well or something like that. But that's what's so beautiful about it. It comes from everywhere and nowhere at the same time."

Akko lowered herself to her knees so she was a closer distance away from the Yiggin, who took a step back in surprise of her slowly forming smile.

"Magic isn't supposed to come from some sort of faucet that we can turn on and off whenever we want it to, and it isn't meant to be cooped up in one place for so much time either! Believe me, I tried staying in bed for an extra three hours the other day and I got the biiiiiggggeest Charley Horse! Lotte and Sucy almost pulled my leg off trying to undo it!" She announced, sounding a little too proud of that story.

"Magic comes from the hearts of people who believe in each other. It can even come from people who don't use magic like we do. That's what's so cool about it! As long as people believe, then it won't run out!"

"But how can people believe in magic if they can't even see it?" Tilly questioned. "Without Yggdrasil there, how can anybody possibly believe in it?"

Akko blinked, then looked at the ground with a sad smile on her face. "You see, that's the thing."

She then tilted her head up and looked at the night sky, her eyes as wide as they can go as to not let a single piece of the image above her go unnoticed. Both Tilly and Ursula took note that it appeared as if that Akko's eyes were trained on something that was only visible in Akko's mind.

"Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it's not there. It just means you can celebrate it in a different way." She looked back down at the Yiggin, who still looked confused. "Yggdrasil may not be where it used to be, but as long as people believe in each other, it'll never be gone. That's where magic really comes from."

Tilly blinked.

"People helping each other," Akko continued. "People branching out and helping people when they're sad, or hurt, or if life isn't going their way. Then after they're helped, they help another person. Then they help someone else. And then they help someone else. The branches keep on growing into something that not even we witches are fully able to understand."

As Akko spoke, she hardly even realized the other Yggdrasillians pop out from their buried positions underneath the rubble of the school. Hearing Akko's and Tilly's conversation drew them to their spot, much to the surprise of the on looking group of girls, who were still perched atop the pile of bricks.

"But what if the people stop believing?" Tilly asked. "What happens if people forget about magic?"

"Then we'll remind them," Akko instantly countered. "And we'll remind them again, and again, and again, no matter how many times it takes us." She lifted herself to her feet and planted them firmly on the shattered tile floor beneath her, her sad eyes now filled to the brim with determination and her arm stretched above her head, finger pointing to the sky. "Because that is the duty of every single witch here at Luna Nova! To preserve the memory of magic and pass it on to the next generation who are just as anxious to use it as we are!"

Tilly was all but stunned at this point. He found himself completely unable to form any sort of retort to the girl before him.

He'd love to admonish her for her naivety, to tell her that her mind was so far up in the clouds that she would run out of air soon. But he was so immobilized by the look in her eyes that he couldn't help but imagine a world where magic can continue living solely based on the hope that the kindness of others never fades away.

And with this determined girl standing in front of him, he got the slightest feeling that it just may be possible if there are more people in the world like her.

The spark never leaving her eye, Akko spun on her heel and smiled at Professor Ursula, taking the young instructor off guard.

"Professor Ursula," Akko beamed, "I can't wait for my lessons tomorrow!"

Ursula tilted her head in confusion.

"B-but Akko, the school is in no shape to-"

"I didn't say I was ready for class! I said I'm ready for my lessons!" She cleared up, but Ursula still wasn't following; a fact made visible by the raised eyebrow.

"Even though we won't be in our usual classrooms, that doesn't mean we stop learning. I understand that now, Professor. Even if you're a teacher and have been for a really long time, you never really stop learning, do you?"

Ursula, who had no idea her jaw had been slack in shock, melted into a smile that never failed to liven Akko's day.

"That's right, Akko. Not a single day goes by where I don't learn something new. That's why teaching is so rewarding."

Akko nodded in understanding before turning back to the group of Yiggins. "You don't have anything to worry about, guys," she said in her best comforting voice. "With a teacher like her, magic isn't in any danger of going away."

The brunette looked down at her shoulder to see Ursula's hand placed on it, her face full of pride as she looked down at Akko.

"And with a student so full of potential and kindness, the chances of magic fading away are next to none." She looked to the Yggdrasillians, her smile not wavering in the slightest. "We have no intention of letting it slip away."

The moment the final words left her idol's lips, Akko's eyes traveled beyond the wreckage and landed on the lawn in front of her, where she found the archway welcoming students to the campus in complete disrepair, its bricks in scattered piles and the metal twisted and mangled seemingly beyond repair.

Akko's heart ignited with motivation at the sight.

"Speaking of intentions . . ."

Ursula let go of the girl's shoulder and watched as Akko walked away from her. The Yggdrasillians parted ways to clear a path for her as she continued on her path. Atop the brick pile, the remaining girls exchanged confused glances before deciding to hop over the other side and carefully make their way to the ground, taking place at Ursula's sides.

Akko stepped over the remaining debris and onto the lawn, her gaze never once shifting away from the wreckage in front of her as she drew closer and closer to it. Finally, she found herself at the base of the pile.

Turning around, Akko smiled when she saw that Ursula, her friends, and all of the Yiggins had followed her out onto the lawn. She spun around again and unsheathed her wand, taking aim at the bricks.

" _Altus Craesha_!"

Only when Akko had revived all Seven Words, or when repeating the spells she learned on her own from watching Shiny Chariot perform had she spoken a spell so clearly and confidently as she had at that very moment. Barely even a moment after the incantation, the bricks began to stir with movement. Within the next few moments, the bricks began to rise and swirl around each other, clanking and scraping against each other as the broken pieces found their homes.

The warped and twisted metal of the arch creaked and bent back into its original form, full of elegant swirls and the works.

Akko's audience watched in awe as the two brick pillars built themselves together again on opposite sides of each other with very few, if any at all, blemishes to be found.

Placing her tongue back in her mouth, Akko flicked her wand once more to set the metal arch atop the completed mortars. The last of the twisted, mangled metal repositioned themselves aloft on their hinges, forming the gate.

Nodding in approval of her handiwork, Akko turned around and was met with the stunned faces of her friends, their eyes wide and mouths once again agape.

Taking pride in her audience's reaction, Akko said nothing else as she approached Tilly and knelt before him once more; any traces of sadness or pity all but gone. In its place was what could only be perceived as excitement.

In a rare moment of total self-control, Akko let her excitement dissolve into a long, calming breath.

"I know you only want what's best for magic. And I also know that you could have taught me incredible things. But," she looked up at her friends, "with these guys behind me, I already have everything I need."

Tilly looked to Akko, then to the group of humans behind him, then back to Akko before he let out a breath of his own.

"I completely understand, Mi- . . . er, Akko. But . . ." He trailed off.

Akko's head tilted in concern.

"What is it?"

Knowing he had no choice but to finally lay it out before the girl, the Yiggin blinked and steadied himself.

"I must admit I'm rather envious of you. All of you," he quickly added, gesturing to the young women surrounding them.

"Your magical community will do nothing but flourish and grow. But . . . we're all that's left of the Yggdrasillians . . . I'd love nothing more than to be with more of my kind again. And without the seeds . . ." He trailed off again, but Akko didn't need to hear the rest of what he had to say in order to fully understand what it was he meant.

Her heart twisted in guilt when she realized that she never considered how lonely it must be to be the last of your kind. She racked her brain, hoping to find something to say that would ease the creature.

Luckily, she didn't have to.

"Well," Ursula's voice came up from behind, drawing everyone's eyes over to her. "It may not be exactly what you want, but I might have a solution."

 _The Next Day_ ,

The following morning was so calm and peaceful that it almost felt as if the events of the previous night hadn't happened at all. The sun filled the sky with its rays and wind gently cascaded over the treetops. Amanda was almost positive that freaking tweety birds were going to swoop down and start singing while perched on their fingertips.

She shook the mushy thought from her brain and allowed herself to return to the odd scene before her.

The jock, along with her teammates, Diana, Akko, Lotte, Sucy and Professor Ursula rode into town on their brooms, the small twig creatures whose identities were still a blaring mystery to her and the others hitching along as well.

Ursula instructed them to meet up early and make it as quick as possible as to avoid any suspicious gazes from the senior staff.

Soon, they all found themselves at the base of the Leyline Terminal.

Tilly and the other Yiggins all had their gazes fixed upwards, past the tower in severe disrepair and into the sky. His mouth was set in a firm line and he was pretty sure he hasn't blinked in five straight minutes. He didn't even have to look around to know that his fellow Yggdrasillians were doing the exact same at the moment.

Finally letting out a breath, Tilly turned around and looked up at Akko and Ursula, who were both smiling kindly down at the creatures; Ursula's hands folded in front of her with Akko's clasped behind her back.

"I still can't believe we let you talk us into this," Tilly all but laughed. "All those centuries of planning . . . hating the witches . . . all just to end up here. You have to realize the irony in it all."

"There is no shame in this," Ursula comforted. "Soon, you will all have exactly what it is you wanted."

"And what about you?" Tilly looked to Akko. "How are you – any of you for that matter – going to explain what happened to the school?"

Amanda let out a dismissive raspberry accompanied by a wave of her hand.

"Weird stuff like this happens all the time. Won't be too hard to sweep under the rug."

"Besides, if the other teachers find out this this was Akko's fault, it's not like they'd be all that surprised," Sucy drawled.

"You shush!" Akko yelled behind her back. "It totally wasn't all my fault!"

" . . . It Kind of was though . . ." A Yiggin hidden in the crowd added.

"You shush too!"

"I believe," Ursula cut in, placing her arm around Akko's shoulders in an attempt to appease the girl, "that the events that transpired last night can be our little secret."

Akko nodded gratefully up at her mentor. The young girls behind them had no qualms with that plan either.

Over the treetops, the sun officially broke through, its light reaching their eyes.

"I think it might be time," Diana spoke up. "Best we get this over with as discreetly as we still can."

Tilly nodded in agreement.

"Well li'l tree dudes," Amanda walked forward, her hands folded behind her back in her typical laid back fashion. "I'd say it's been real, but you kind of destroyed my bed. That's not cool."

Ursula and Diana simultaneously sent the jock an icy glare her way. Tilly, on the other hand, showed no signs of being offended. He merely laughed lightheartedly and graciously accepted the comment as her own form of farewell.

"As blunt as ever," Tilly observed. "I look forward to offering you our magic, Amanda."

Amanda blinked in surprise. In the less than twenty-four hour time span that she had known these things, she was fairly positive names had not been exchanged. "H-How'd you-" She attempted to speak, but found words to fail her.

"Miss Akko has told us about all of you on separate occasions. It wasn't hard to deduce who _you_ were. And I must say," he scanned the girls in front of him, "she most certainly has good taste in friends." He turned once more to face Akko, whose eyes were glimmering with the utmost of pride. "Keep them close," he instructed, while wordlessly adding how he believes that they're far better influences on the girl than he ever could have been.

He was never more positive than he was at this very moment that he never needed to worry about magic fading away.

The only thing Akko could do in return was nod. "Of course!"

"Tilly," Ursula diverted his attention to the instructor, who tapped the top of her wrist with the tip of her wand.

The Yiggin quickly got the hint.

"Yes, of course," he backed away and faced his fellow Yiggins, who all looked ready as well.

"Let's go," Tilly said. On command, the tiny creatures bowed their heads ever so slightly and closed their eyes in maxed out concentration. No one dared to even exhale loudly in fear of disrupting whatever it was they were doing to prepare.

It was almost awkward to just stand and watch them mumble inaudibly amongst themselves for so long, but no one felt the need to voice it.

Well, Sucy _almost_ did. But she decided against receiving another jab to the ribcage with Lotte's surprisingly pointy elbow.

After another few moments, everyone noticed the green aura beginning to rise up from the plant sprites. Before any of them knew it, a swirling mass of green and white rose up and reached the sky. The Yggdrasillians opened their eyes and looked at each other, expressions of shock being exchanged from one to the other as they found their bodies beginning to fade away and float upwards.

Akko saw one of them in the crowd fully vanish. Then another. Then another one followed quickly after him. Before long, their faces melted into accepting smiles, allowing the rest of the spell to do its work.

It all took less than a minute.

The final Yggdrasillian vanished, leaving Tilly behind, who lifted his head and turned himself around to meet Akko's gaze for one final moment. He could feel his body begin to dissolve into magic, but he was more than ready to join his kind.

He smiled. "You know," he let out a forced chuckle, "it took me this long . . . but I think I'm warming up to the concept of names."

Akko, at first taken aback by his words, let out a breath and gave him a knowing smile.

"Having said that," his lower half was entirely gone, "I have no doubt that yours will be remembered."

With that, the last of Tilly was dissolved by the magic and was now floating upwards. Everyone's eyes were all but glued to the spectacle above them. The wisps of their magic floated above the crumbling tower and into the morning sky until they were unable to see them anymore.

At least until a brief flash of light, that lasted for a little longer than a nanosecond, tore through the sky, forcing the audience below to shield their eyes for that quick moment. When they found themselves able to safely return their gazes upwards, they were stunned by what they saw.

High above them, almost looking as if it was embedded into the sky itself, they found an elaborate, intertwining system of black lines and green energy stretching as far as they were able to see. It almost resembled the complex ventricle system of the human body itself.

Her jaw at first slack in sheer awe, Akko finally found herself to close it and smile at the sight, knowing full well that the Leyline would probably never be visible like this ever again.

Moments later, the image faded away, replacing itself with oranges and pinks as the sun rose higher.

The group of young women stood in silence for a few moments longer, none of them entirely certain of what to say as their eyes remained glued to the sky itself.

Finally, the first one to find their voice was Sucy.

"Let it be known that on this day, Akko drove an entire species to extinction."

The moment officially ruined for the brunette, her awestruck face dissolved into a grimace of annoyance, accompanied with her hands tightening into fists. "I thought I told you to shush! And I totally didn't drive them to extinction! This was their own choice."

Amanda held up her hands. "Hey, hey, however you wanna put it is fine with me. Now how about we head back? I'm starving. Haven't had a bite to eat since lunch yesterday."

Ursula let out a breath. "Unfortunately, I don't think Luna Nova will be accommodating any meals for quite some time. It will take quite some time to . . . recover from this incident."

"Professor!"

Ursula nearly jumped out of her skin from the unforeseen outburst, as well as her hand being taken into Akko's firm hold.

"Don't you remember anything from last night?" She asked in an almost scolding tone. "We're going to be here to help!"

While Ursula was undoubtedly grateful for Akko's unyielding optimism and assistance – and even despite the impressive magical demonstration at the gate last night – it was going to take a lot more than that to rebuild the school.

"Akko is correct."

All eyes turned to Diana.

"After all that Luna Nova has done for my family, it would be borderline apprehensible of me to turn my back on its hour of need. I will contact Anna and prepare the relief effort."

Akko had no time to even begin to think about throwing her arms around the heiress before another voice in the group made itself heard.

"Hey, hey! Don't steal all the glory!" Amanda chastised. "I'm not gonna pass up the chance to let future students know who they have to thank for giving them their school back!"

Diana rolled her eyes at the statement.

Lotte cleared her throat.

"My uncle owns his own carpentry business . . . I could see if he'd be willing to come up and lend a hand."

"And not to mention Cons here!" Amanda spoke back up, slinging her arm around the shoulder of the height-challenged inventor. "She's got her own army of robots to help out!" A sudden thoughtful look passed over her face. "Wait, did they survive do you even know?"

In response, Constanze removed her hat and placed it on her chest, closing her eyes for a moment of silence.

Pressing the issue no further, Amanda released her hold on her teammate and cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Well, anyways," she backpedaled. "You don't have anything to worry about, Teach!" Her usual jocular tone returned in an instant. "Looks to me that you've got all the help you need!"

Genuinely touched by her students' words, a nagging tug at her heart told her still that they may not even be enough.

"I . . ." She never got to finish the thought before a brand new voice approached from behind.

"Somehow, I thought I'd find you close by."

The girls were silent as they turned to face the hill. Walking up the incline was a familiarly finely dressed young man. Diana and Akko blinked in surprise as their friend drew closer to them.

"Andrew?"

The young heir smiled and came to a stop in front of Ursula, offering the group of young women a polite bow.

Sucy merely sniffed in reply. "Lemme guess; you're here to fix something stupid Akko did."

Andrew simply waved off the comment and got straight to the point. "Word traveled quickly of what happened to Luna Nova. I was sent over on my father's behalf to make sure no serious damage has been done."

"Too late."

"That's quite the change of heart," Diana crossed her arms, but showed no signs of disbelief to Andrew's claim. "To what do we owe this act?"

Andrew, satisfied to see that his old friend's demeanor hasn't been shaken in the slightest, looked to Akko with a knowing smile, taking the brunette off guard. "In light of last year's events and the role that the witches of Luna Nova played in defending the wellbeing of our nation, my father also sent me to offer our services in any way that you see fit."

Ursula covered the gasp that escaped her lips with her hand, her heart leaping with joy and eyes beginning to sting with the threat of tears.

But she honestly didn't care if she broke down in front of the students. Knowing that the school not only had the prestigious Cavendish family on their side, but the exceptionally wealthy Hanbridge as well was just about more than she could handle. She could only imagine how Headmistress Holbrooke was going to react to this news.

Before her knees were even able to fail her, she felt Akko's hands grip hers tight once more and was greeted with the girl's beaming face. "See, Professor? It's just like what I said!" Akko all but squealed. "People helping other people is what's keeping magic alive!"

Ursula had no other choice than to melt into another smile. "That's right, Akko. Diana, would you please-"

"I'd be honored, Professor," Diana interrupted. She rarely interrupted anybody at any time, but given these fortunate turn of events, she found herself eager to be of assistance. She strolled up to Andrew and invited him to walk with her back the way he came from, having no doubt in her mind that his limo was parked nearby. "Now, we must discuss our short term housing accommodations as well. Perhaps I could recommend to Professor Holbrooke . . ." Her voice trailed off the farther they walked down the hill until they were totally out of earshot.

That left the remaining witches standing alone atop the hill, the sun now higher over the horizon and the wind blowing by, snapping them all back into reality. Clearing her throat, Ursula gestured to the broomsticks that were propped up against the terminal wall.

"I believe that it's time to head back as well. I'll have to give the Headmistress a decent heads up of the good news coming her way. Ladies," she prompted, grabbing Akko's broom and holding it out to her. "I hope you don't mind if I catch a ride with you . . ?" She smiled bashfully.

Akko was close to fainting when she just realized that her childhood idol just asked if she could ride with her. She shook away the impending dizziness and nodded excitedly.

"Of course!"

Sucy sniggered under her breath. "Try not to kill her on the way back. You're still fairly new to this."

"I'll show you!" She all but shouted. "Escorting Shiny Chariot herself is just the motivation I need to not mess this up!"

A whoosh overhead drew Akko's attention upwards to find Amanda's amused Cheshire grin as she laid across her broom on her side, her cheek propped up on her fist. "And here I thought you would've wanted to go with your boyfriend over there."

"As if!" She aggressively denied. "The guy's a total snob!"

"A total snob with a crap ton of cash and a newfound respect for witches," Amanda added.

"That's beside the point!"

"And he has that friend of his with the blonde hair," Sucy remembered, now laughing in Lotte's directions, taking satisfaction in the blush forming in her cheeks.

"D-Don't bring Frank into this!"

"Ladies, if we could please, er-" Ursula attempted to interrupt, but was cut off by more arguing as they all lifted off the ground. Ursula let out a worried shriek and gripped Akko's shoulders for balance.

"I don't have time for romantic junk anyways!" Akko denied. "I've got to study and become a fantastic witch!"

"Never thought I'd hear Akko confidently say that she actually intended on studying," Sucy let out another snort of laughter.

"Aren't you supposed to be shushing up?!"

Ursula pushed up her glasses and let out a defeated sigh, accepting the fact that, despite the Leyline's convenience, the ride back to campus was going to be a long one.

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

 _Three Years Later_ ,

It's not that Professor Ursula disliked being overwhelmed with papers to grade, far from it actually. She loved every moment of being able to see the progress (or unfortunately lack thereof) of her students. But she had to admit that being swamped with the tedious activity while a picture perfect day was waiting for her outside was admittedly beginning to bring out her impatient side.

She calmed herself down when she reminded herself that she wouldn't have time to fully enjoy the day anyways, due to her involvement on the festival committee.

Her quill scratching against the paper was the only sound in the room. She almost proceeded robotically as her mind drifted off to other matters: Such as the proper materials she needed to fetch from the basement, making sure that the sweets were set out and—

A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts and caused her to jump in her seat.

"C-coming!"

Her red hair flipping around at the speed she stood up, she ran to the door and opened it to find Professor Badcock on the other side, one hand on her hip and the other clutching a clipboard that she held to her chest.

"Good, you're here," she said, sounding genuinely relieved that Ursula was in fact in her room. "I was sent to fetch you. We are having a meeting for last minute preparations in thirty minutes."

Ursula gave her elder an appreciative nod. "Thank you for informing me. I will be there shortly."

Before Badcock turned to leave, her eyes traveled inside the office and found the papers yet to be graded on her desk. "You're grading the midterms now?" She asked almost incredulously. "It's a Saturday, why not wait at least until tomorrow?"

"I like to grade as quickly as possible so I can enjoy whatever I have left of the weekend," the young instructor explained. "And besides, this way works best to coincide with Arcas's feeding times."

Badcock's eyes widened. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about!" Ursula took a step back at the sudden outburst. "Please tell your assistant that she needs to give proper warning before she takes off with the other students. It interferes with the others' lesson plans."

Professor Ursula tilted her head. "She knows better to speak with the Headmistress before she acts. I thought that-"

"Well she's not the only one who needs a heads up," Badcock all but huffed. "Please make sure she's aware of this." Without waiting for Ursula to confirm she would, the elderly professor continued down the hall, her eyes glued down to her clipboard.

Ursula, waving politely as she left, let out a disheveled sigh and rolled her eyes. Looking back at her desk, she decided that the rest of the papers could be graded sometime tomorrow. Closing and locking the door behind her, Professor Ursula made her way outside and towards the entrance of the Fountain of Polaris.

Being forced to rebuild the school, as well as refurbish the damaged section to the fountain's entrance, had turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the most part, as it gave the students a homier and welcoming feeling as opposed to the typical dorm room set up.

It also allowed her childhood friend to live a more comfortable lifestyle as well.

She climbed the steps and began walking through the corridors, hoping that she hadn't missed them quite yet. Her worries were put to rest once she heard her apprentice's voice echo from around the corner.

"There ya go! Just like that! Alright, who's left? Just the one? Come on, there's no need to be shy."

Ursula rounded the last corner just in time to see Akko, adorned in her navy blue trench coat (which she had worn almost every single day since Ursula invited her to be her apprentice) with the Luna Nova insignia embroidered on it, as well as the likeness of the Shiny Rod placed on the left shoulder, along with a small handful of students who she recognized as first years. They each held empty buckets in their arms except for one, who stood next to Akko and clutched the bucket with fish inside of it tightly against her chest.

Arcas, who was still finishing off the last snack given to him, twitched his ear when he heard the last girl set down the bucket against the stone floor.

"Good! Now," Akko began, her voice low and encouraging. "Hold out your wand, and summon the . . . there you go! Keep going . . ."

Ursula's face lit up with pride as she saw the student levitate the single fish that lay inside the bucket and bring it close enough to Arcas for him to notice.

She took even more pride in the instructions given to her by Akko.

"That's it, keep your posture up. The fish'll start to wobble if your body isn't steady."

Arcas, now finished with his previous offering, snatched the last one out of the air, eliciting a surprised squeak from the timid first year. Akko, however, only beamed and patted the girl repeatedly on her shoulder. "Handled like a true pro!" She congratulated. "That wasn't so bad, right girls?"

The line of young witches shook their heads. "Can we go back inside now?"

Akko waved her finger. "Ah, ah, ah. One last thing to do. What do we tell our larger-than-life friend here?"

In response, each of the students set down their buckets and folded their hands in front of them, bowing their heads politely in the polar bear's direction.

"Thank you for protecting our school!"

Akko crossed her arms and nodded her approval before she finally noticed Professor Ursula standing in the entrance to the feeding room. Standing upright as quickly as a well-disciplined soldier, Akko cleared her throat and closed her eyes as she spoke.

"Very well then, you are all dismissed!"

Ursula couldn't quite contain her giggle of amusement at the sight. The students placed their buckets at the side of the room and began to file out, only barely taking in Akko's final words.

"And don't forget that we'll be doing this again later in the week! It's the least we can do to help our furry friend!"

The group responded with a unanimous "'Kay!" before they each vanished around the corner, their idle chatter growing fainter the farther away they got. Ursula approached her apprentice, still unable to shake the smile from her face.

"You know," she started, "you're not doing very well on staying in Professor Badcock's good side."

Akko's arms drooped as she let out an exaggerated whine. "What'd I do this time?"

"You failed to mention to _her_ specifically that you were taking the students for a round of feeding."

Upon hearing this, Akko all but scoffed. "That's all? I told Headmistress Holbrooke, wasn't that enough? Geez, I swear, that woman is impossible to please."

"Akko! Respect your elders!" Ursula chastised, though not exactly disagreeing with the young woman either. The two witches began to walk down the corridor, through the same direction Ursula had just emerged from. "Anyways, I have a committee meeting to attend, so I was wondering if you would be able to fetch the remaining papers from the classroom and bring them to my office."

The brunette nodded. "Not a problem! That'll be on my way back to my room, so it works out perfectly! And you don't have to be so wishy washy about it next time. It's what I'm here for!" Akko reassured, emphasizing her point with a proud thumb pointed toward her chest.

"I'll be sure to work on that . . ." Ursula smiled as the two of them exited the Fountain's entrance. "I must be getting along now. I'll be sure to get you before it starts!" With that, Akko's mentor took off without her across the lawn toward the school.

Akko, being the ever obedient apprentice, did as she was bid and collected the papers, deposited them in Ursula's office, and then promptly hurried next door to her private quarters. Closing the door behind her, Akko hurriedly dug out her palm-sized crystal ball from her top drawer and plopped herself down at her desk, setting the ball down in front of her.

Tapping it, the once dim orb lit up, its light washing over the walls and reflecting from the mirror in front of her. Using her finger to scroll through her contacts, she found her desired person and tapped her name. The dull ringing began to play, notifying the anxious girl that her call has gone through. Before long, she was met with the familiar freckled face of her friend on the other side.

"Hello, Akko!"

"Lotte! How's it going?! I can't believe I'm talking to you right now! It's been soooooo _oooooo_ long!" Akko dramatically flailed her arms and slumped in her seat, deflating like a balloon.

"Akko, we talked last night," Lotte reminded her with an already exasperated sigh. "Anyways, shouldn't you be getting ready for tonight? I'd hate to be keeping you from it."

"It's all taken care of," Akko put her friend's concern to rest. "The courtyard is all decorated and the food just needs to be brought out. Professor Ursula is in a meeting right now discussing the boring stuff with the others. You and Sucy are going to be here, right?" Akko asked, drastically changing gears.

"We'll certainly try our best." Lotte leaned away from the screen, revealing that she was standing behind a cashier's desk in a warmly lit store. The shelves behind her was stacked with well-known magical items. She appeared to be peeking beyond the counter at someone in particular. "Right, Sucy?"

As if on cue, Sucy's thin form entered the frame. She was holding an opened crate that was overflowing with an ominous purple fog that smothered the ground where she walked. Akko couldn't help but be thankful that she wasn't there for Sucy to 'accidentally' drop it on her just to see what would happen.

"That depends if she's opened up the care packages I've sent her," she drawled as she vanished through an open doorway with the crate on the other side of the counter.

Akko had indeed received Sucy's care packages in the mail . . . but due to their lumpy nature from inside the envelopes, she could take a guess as to what they were; nor was she brave enough to let alone open them.

Lotte rolled her eyes and redirected her gaze back to her friend. "Yeah, things have been busy over here. Which I guess is a pretty good thing, right? I'm just glad that Sucy is here to lend a hand. And don't listen to whatever it is she may say. She really does miss you. And so do I."

Akko sniffed. "Oh, Lotte!" Hoping that the action would magically bring her closer to her friend, Akko threw her arms around the crystal ball and hugged it close to her face, rubbing it against her tear stained cheek against it frivolously. "Now you definitely have to show up tonight! I don't care how long it takes, or even if you make it in time! You just have to show up!"

"A-Akko! You're staining the screen! That may interfere with the touchscreen capabilities!"

But Lotte's warning fell on deaf ears. Akko continued to wail to her heart's content. The only thing that managed to snap her out of it was the small blast on the other side of the screen that was accompanied with a swirling purple fog spilling out from the doorway that Sucy just entered moments ago.

Akko held out the ball at arm's length, curiously gaping at the scene.

"Sucy . . ?" Lotte shakily asked.

Upon hearing her name, the pink haired witch's face poked out from around the corner.

"There was an accident."

"Sucy! We just got that inventory!" She let out a sigh before looking back at Akko. "I've gotta sort this out. We'll see you tonight, Akko!" Without waiting for Akko to attest, Lotte ended the call, leaving Akko in a silent room once more.

After a few more silent moments, the only thing Akko thought to do was lightly shake the crystal orb like a magic 8 ball, as if it would magically restore the image that Lotte had just snuffed out. She tilted it upwards and backwards, viewing it from different angles in the hope that it would spring back to life.

"I believe that that means Lotte has hung up."

"GAH!"

Akko nearly dropped the orb on the desk as she leapt off of her seat in fright. Carefully clutching it close to her chest, she turned her head to find Diana in her doorway, her hand still on the doorknob.

"Pardon the intrusion, but I felt as though I wasn't interrupting anything anymore once I heard it was silent."

"Diana!" Akko whined. "You more than anyone should understand what knocking is!"

"I did knock." Diana informed her. "Three times."

The brunette, in response, crossed her arms and grumbled something about how it was somehow still rude underneath her breath. "What do you want?" She raised her eyebrow in her friend's direction.

"I came to ask for your assistance in the kitchen." A smile crept its way onto her face. "There's no one else I would dream of asking to help with the fruit cups."

Akko's sour attitude instantly dissolved and was replaced with a touched sense of honor. She smiled and nodded in response.

"Then let's head down immediately. There's still plenty to do before the ceremony starts."

Wasting no time, Akko ushered Diana into the hall, closed the door behind her, and began walking through the mostly empty halls side by side, passing by the occasional few students as they went.

It took a little while after Luna Nova was rebuilt, but both Akko and Diana memorized the new layout nonetheless.

Akko, officially fed up with the silence as they walked, looked to Diana. "So, how was your trip, Miss School Representative?"

Deciding not to prod at Akko's insistence of using that nickname, she humored the girl.

"It was very eventful. I've always wanted to visit Italy, so I was honored that Headmistress Holbrooke entrusted me with the meeting. The faculty of the academy were incredibly warm and welcoming. We agreed upon . . ." She proceeded to dive into excruciating detail of budget, future renovations, events, and seemingly every other topic that seemed tailor made to bore Akko out of her skull. She didn't dislike the retelling however, as it at least livened up the still somewhat foreign halls with some familiarity.

Diana continued. "I offered them an invitation for tonight, but they respectfully declined, wishing that we establish more personal relationships with one another beforehand."

"Do we have any guests coming tonight?" Akko inquired.

"A few. The Earl of Hanbridge accepted our invitation, which also means Andrew will be present as well. In all honesty, I believe they're only here as to ensure their donations didn't go to waste. I believe a few other Appleton Academy representatives will be joining us as well."

" . . . Anybody else?" The brunette pressed.

Diana quirked her eyebrow and pursed her lips in thought. "If you are asking about Amanda, then I have my doubts." She could see Akko's visible deflation in her peripheral vision. "But that's no reason to dampen tonight's activities. She's making quite a name for herself in competitive racing." That did little to lift Akko's spirits.

But Diana knew what would.

"You should be proud of her. She's chasing her dream. Just as you did. I can't help but feel as though you had a hand in inspiring her," she beguiled, sprinkling in certain buzzwords that were sure to bury any negative thoughts. She was pleased to see that it worked. Almost instantly after the final sentiment left Diana's lips, the spring in Akko's step returned, a fist raised triumphantly in the air as well.

"Hell yeah! That's my girl!"

Jumping back in shock, Diana hushed her friend.

"Akko!" She whispered harshly. "There are students around! You must set a better example!"

The brunette all but waved off the concern. "Oh you know as well as I do that they say the same things. Now come on! Don't want the fruit to go bad before we get there, do we?"

 _Later_ ,

Once again, the time was almost upon them.

The sun had entirely set behind the trees, allowing the perfectly starry night to replace its presence. For the time being, large stadium lights were being levitated above everyone's heads as to offer them a clear view of their surroundings. Multiple mental notes were passed from teacher to teacher as to dim them once the time came (as long as Holbrooke was still kicking, the same mistake will _not_ be repeated).

Just as it was the time before, Akko had a difficult time containing her excitement.

But with the time she's spent as Ursula's apprentice, she'd –albeit only somewhat—realized that the other teachers now had higher expectations of her. By learning through the virtual only way she knows how, with lots and lots of trial and error, Akko had found a healthy way to route her excitement; by passing little bits and pieces of it to everybody surrounding her.

The moment Akko and Diana stepped outside, the former had all but vanished into the swarm and found cluster after cluster of students whom she had gotten to know over the course of Ursula's classes. Diana smiled as she saw them converse back and forth with Akko, each of them swapping stories about exams and the pains and frustrations of not being able to perfectly execute certain spells on the first go.

As the evening went on, Akko continued to mingle with the other students, each and every one of them lighting up when they saw her approaching. Once she finished talking with the last group, Akko found herself walking over to the pastry table, where a wide array of delicately made snacks and sweet were laid out across the span of four tables. Unable to help herself, Akko reached for one snack, then another, and another until her arms were stock full of donuts and crepes.

She made her way along the length of all tables, coming face to face with the chubby woman standing behind it, a bright smile decorating her cheeks and a dusty rose apron around her waist.

Akko beamed at the familiar face.

"Thanks for supplying us all of this, Jasminka! We promise we'll make it worth your while . . . And I promise not to eat everything!"

Jasminka appeared to not be worried in the slightest. Peering behind her, both her and Akko found an army of tiny robots parading in a multitude of sweets loaded up on trays from the back of a bright pink double doored truck. In the driver's seat, Akko made out the image of Constanze, now Jasminka's marketing partner, controlling them from where she sat.

Reaching down, the baker plucked up a piece of cake, holding it out for Akko. "Try it!" She all but insisted.

Rather than wait for a reply, she all but pushed the entire piece into Akko's mouth, which she gratefully accepted. Jasminka then promptly wiped off the frosting smeared across her face with the bottom of her apron.

Akko smiled graciously as she chewed. " _Shthank yuh, Jabminkah_!"

"Akko!"

Hearing her name called from behind amidst the crowd of talkative students, the brunette whipped her head around to find Professor Ursula atop the prepared stage, gesturing for her to join her in the vacant seat at the far end of the line as the other instructors began taking theirs.

Nodding in understanding, Akko suddenly panicked, wondering what to do with her arm-load of sweets.

She settled with setting them atop the table in an eschew pile before swiping up a stray robot that was marching back to the truck and setting it down on the table next to them. She swallowed her cake and pointed to the pile of delectables. "Guard this with your life."

Without waiting for a response, Akko turned and hightailed it to the stage, climbing up the steps from behind and joining her mentor in the seat beside her. Ursula smiled at Akko, knowing full well how much she's been looking forward to this night.

As soon as the last of the faculty had found their way to their seats (which tripped Akko out seeing herself sitting alongside these magical veterans, looking down at the mingling mass of students), Headmistress Holbrooke climbed atop the step allowing her to reach the microphone before clearing her throat.

"Young witches of Luna Nova, if you could now please find your way to your seats."

A handful of minutes later, every girl had found their spots, their eyes focused on their Headmistress.

"I'd like to take this time to thank all hands involved in making tonight possible. To our groundskeepers, who worked tirelessly assembling the stage, and to Luna Nova's very own Jasminka Antoneko for supplying us with her very own assortment of treats."

The student body responded with a polite round of applause, which Jasminka acknowledged with a wave.

"Now then," Holbrooke continued, "I'm sure the last thing you're all looking forward to is listening to the rambling of an old woman, so I would at this time like to welcome our school representative to the stage, Miss Diana Cavendish."

Another polite round of applause, this one slightly louder than the last, welcomed Diana as she confidently strode over to the now vacant microphone. Raising her hand to silence the applause, the young heiress began. "On behalf of the faculty members of Luna Nova, I would like to extend my undying gratitude to each and every one of you. It is because of young, ambitious students such as yourselves that allows Luna Nova to remain among the most prestigious academies."

Diana continued her introduction, her composure as prim and proper as ever. Akko, while doing a fairly decent job of keeping her focus, also found her eyes wandering over the crowd, hoping to find her two ex-teammates.

Among the faces, however, she did come across the smiling face of Andrew, who was seated next to his father (who didn't look unhappy to be there, Akko took notice). Akko almost forcibly kept her hand glued to her lap to prevent herself from vigorously waving at her friend.

She continued to scan the crowd as Diana continued, but her heart plummeted in disappointment when she didn't come across the familiar pink and blonde hair of her friends.

Letting out a small breath, Akko snapped out of her sadness once she felt a small jab at her side. Looking to where it had come from, she was met with a smiling Ursula, who gestured with her head to the side of the stage.

Following her gaze, Akko let out an inaudible gasp of delight when she found Lotte and Sucy's smiling faces hovering just above the edge of the stage.

Whipping her head back to Ursula, she pleaded silently to allow her to have this moment for herself.

Unable to tell the girl no, Ursula nodded, her smile never once leaving her face.

Not caring what the students thought as she rose from her seat, Akko made her way to the end of the stage and hopped off, not showing a moment's hesitation or restraint as she threw her arms around her friends.

She did her best to keep quiet as to not interrupt Diana's speech, but it was difficult to do so while she choked on multiple sobs, not even caring about what her friends may think of her at this moment. She just relished in this moment, digging her face into the crook of their shoulders. Lotte was quick to throw her arms around her as well, and before long, Sucy wrapped her arm around too.

Finally letting up, Akko stepped back, her eyes still shining from still unshed, disbelieving tears.

"I thought you weren't going to be able to show up!"

"It was looking like it, but my parents let us go at the last second," Lotte elaborated. "They say hi by the way."

"And what about the mess that Sucy made?" Akko tilted her head. In response, Lotte sent a glare Sucy's way.

"It turns out that nothing went wrong. She just felt like putting a smoke bomb in one of our crates."

"I'm a comedic genius ahead of my time," Sucy smiled smugly.

Akko couldn't help but laugh at her friends, all the while doing her best to take in the rest of Diana's speech.

"Tonight marks the first time of the comet's passing since the completion of our renovation project, a true milestone for the legacy of our school, indeed. But please, my fellow students, do not view this night as a required event for all students; a mere ploy to spend more time outdoors. Rather, let tonight be a much needed reminder."

Akko all but forced herself to leave her friends' side, giving them both one last hug before she climbed back up the steps.

"A reminder that there is no such thing as an unattainable dream. No such thing as a goal too ambitious. This facility is the living proof of this fact."

Akko returned to her seat next to Ursula.

"Please, my fellow witches, stop at nothing to pursue your dream. We will help you attain it, as you have helped attain our dream."

Sparing a moment from her speech, Diana peeked over her shoulder and smiled at Akko.

She turned back to the microphone.

"It is our dream to pass on our knowledge of magic to the next generation of eager witches in the hopes of keeping our lifestyle alive for many years to come. And with all of your help, that dream becomes more and more of a reality with every passing day."

She gestured her arm behind her. "Once again, on behalf of the faculty, I offer you our humblest thanks. Now please, enjoy the comet."

Akko did not need to be told that twice.

Her speech having officially concluded, Diana turned and walked back to her seat amongst the other teachers. The lights hovering above their heads dimmed, plunging the entire area into darkness, the air around them almost deathly silent.

There wasn't a single thing that could tear Akko's gaze away from the sky.

Not Ursula's proud smile.

Not Andrew's curious gaze up to the sky.

Not Diana's unyielding demeanor melting into one of joy for her friend.

Not even Sucy or Lotte's gaze at the end of the stage.

But she was grateful for every single one of them.

Because if it weren't for them, she wouldn't be anywhere near where she is at this very moment.

Before long, the comet became visible. And this time, nothing prevented Akko from enjoying it to its fullest.


End file.
